Re: Antarctic Cities

On Sat, 28 Jul 2007 12:40:52 -0400, Paul Ciszek wrote
(in article <f8frik$jma$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>):


In article <0001HW.C2CB69F400E82B9CF060B648@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
J.J. O'Shea <no.body@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Tue, 24 Jul 2007 03:22:27 -0400, Logan Kearsley wrote
(in article <TMhpi.3903$Da.3788@trnddc07>):

Say you want to build an independent, self-sufficient city in
Antarctica.With greenhouses for food production.

How would you power it (apart from nuclear reactors, that is)? There's
coal
in Antarctica, but I expect you'd have to build the city first before you
could go out mining it. Could wind turbines keep you going through the
winter?

How would you construct foundations? Only build on the occasional
outcropping of bare rock, anchor permanently to the ice, set everything on
sleds?

-l.
------------------------------------
My inbox is a sacred shrine, none shall enter that are not worthy.



You have three choices for power:

1 nuclear.

2 coal.

3 freeze to death.

Is wind not an option? If not, why not?

I agree that nuclear should get more play.




The places where there are consistent winds aren't consistently powerful, so
you need a _lot_ of wind turbines, and many of them are in the same dry
valleys you want to build in. The places where there are powerful winds don't
have consistent winds, so you need a _lot_ of wind turbines _plus_ something
to store the power while the winds aren't at their best. (And, as they aren't
in the dry valleys, you have the problem of anchoring them to the ice. There
can be some _really serious_ winds in some parts of Antarctica; putting your
wind turbines there will generate a lot of power... if the turbines don't get
blown away first.) Solar's out, for what should be obvious reasons, and
wave/tide power is worse than wind power. Oil and natural gas would have to
be imported; IIRC there aren't any viable oil/gas fields in or near
Antarctica. This leaves coal and nuclear.

--
email to oshea dot j dot j at gmail dot com.

.

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