The environmental impacts of operating an Antarctic research station

Abstract We present a life cycle assessment (LCA) of the operation of Casey Station in Antarctica. The LCA included quantifying material and energy flows, modeling of elementary flows, and subsequent environmental impacts. Environmental impacts were dominated by emissions associated with freight ope...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Industrial Ecology
Main Authors: Crossin, Enda, Verghese, Karli, Lockrey, Simon, Ha, Hieu, Young, Gordon
Other Authors: Australian Antarctic Division
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2020
Subjects:
General Social Sciences
General Environmental Science
Antarctic
Casey Station
Antarc*
Antarctica
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12972
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Summary:Abstract We present a life cycle assessment (LCA) of the operation of Casey Station in Antarctica. The LCA included quantifying material and energy flows, modeling of elementary flows, and subsequent environmental impacts. Environmental impacts were dominated by emissions associated with freight operations and electricity cogeneration. A participatory design approach was used to identify options to reduce environmental impacts, which included improving freight efficiency, reducing the temperature setpoint of the living quarters, and installing alternative energy systems. These options were then assessed using LCA, and have the potential to reduce environmental impacts by between 2% and 19.1%, depending on the environmental indicator.

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