Polar scientists: Pretending to use lots of wind power, but actually burning enormous amounts of fossil fuel?

Pressure Ridges | Ice Stories: Dispatches From Polar Scientists

In the background, you can see a new feature on the Antarctic landscape: Scott Base has built three windmills for power.

How Scott Base Works

POWER AND FUEL SUPPLY

* 400V 50Hz power supply
* 600 kW power generation capacity
* 2 main generators; 1 auxiliary generator
* Generators fuelled with AN8 (Aviation Turbine Fuel)
* 270 000 litres of fuel used annually

2008: Catching the Wind in Antarctica - Green Inc. Blog - NYTimes.com

McMurdo bought its fuel last year for $2.86 a gallon — not a bad price — but it comes all the way from Greece, where a refinery creates a special formulation meant to resist extremely cold temperatures, which can turn the fuel into a useless gel.

The tanker makes the last few hundred miles of the trip trailing a Swedish icebreaker.

And if the fuel is taken from McMurdo on the 1,100-mile trip to the base at the South Pole, it is often flown in a C-130 cargo plane that burns 700 gallons an hour for the three-hour flight — each way. The result is that the trip burns two gallons for every one gallon delivered.
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With few alternatives in the harsh conditions, “diesel is still very much the lifeblood of the Antarctic,’’ said Mr. Stone.