Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand abstracts

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Industrial metabolism on ice: a case study of industrial materials flows and environmental management alternatives for Scott Base, New Zealand's Antarctic research station

Robert J. Klee^*

^*Center for Industrial Ecology, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, 205 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511 USA, E-mail: robert.klee@yale.edu

Human activity to support scientific research in the Antarctic environment poses potential threats to Antarctic ecosystems with regard to materials use and waste generation. To begin to understand the potential environmental impacts, a case study materials flow analysis was carried out for New Zealand's Scott Base. In a typical research season (1 July 1997-30 June 1998), Scott Base consumed 308 tonnes of fossil fuels, producing approximately 1000 tonnes of CO2, 26 tonnes of NOX, and measurable quantities of SOX, CO, particulates, and trace metals. It required 1482 tonnes of freshwater, which produced 1400 tonnes of sewage containing approximately 170 kg of Total Nitrogen, 25 kg of Total Phosphorous, 750 kg of BOD5, and 1250 kg of suspended solids. It received 217.5 tonnes of bulk cargo; 12 tonnes of burnables were incinerated on site and 40 tonnes of rubbish and cargo were returned to New Zealand. Human industrial residues are accumulating in and around Scott Base. In response to this material imbalance, management initiatives to improve environmental performance are discussed, including the transition to non-fossil fuel energy sources to reduce air emissions; the use of an integrated biosystem to reduce wastewater; and improved building design to reduce solid wastes.

Keywords  industrial metabolism; environmental management; Antarctica; Scott Base New Zealand; industrial ecology; materials flow analysis

R00003. Received 14 February 2000; accepted 5 September 2000

(c) Journal of The Royal Society of New Zealand,

Volume 31, Number 2, June 2001, pp 393-409

PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (1121K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)

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