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There's no improvising the building of a "zero emission" station. Aside from having to determine the various ways of producing energy, you also have to find a way to store the energy and a way to coordinate the sources supplying the base. Ecological research is therefore, in addition to being a model for the future, a lesson in energy management and logistics.

Although the Princess Elisabeth Station is now finished and the last members of the expedition have just returned from Utsteinen, the story isn't over yet. The actual life of the station has just begun, showing an example of how to face the challenges of the future. Next season, the station will accomodate new scientific research teams.

Everyone at Utsteinen has just woken up, yet the village is already full of activity. First on the agenda is the station, where we find the ingredients to fix lunch and dinner. Meanwhile, Koen and Benoît are mounting the solar panels on the station.

Jean- Louis Tison is a Glaciologist, and the Co-director of the Glaciological Laboratory of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (Université Libre de Bruxelles). This season will be his fifteenth time in Antarctica. Joining the BELARE 2010-2011 expedition, he will be heading the BELISSIMA (BELgian Ice Sheet-Shelf Ice Measurements in Antarctica) to study the interaction between the ocean and the ice sheet.

Thanks to the joint efforts of all members of the 2009-2010 BELARE team, the construction of the fuel platform next to the Princess Elisabeth Station on Utsteinen Ridge was completed in just under four days.Despite strong winds, the team kept on digging, drilling and bolting to install some sixty meters of steel on the ridge, making sure there will be a safe storage platform for fuel barrels for the vehicles.

After his first research trip at the Princess Elisabeth Station, two years ago, Alexander Mangold, of the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium, is returning to Antarctica this year to install new instruments for the BELATMOS project. Watch as he shares his plans and expectations for this season.

Having departed from Cape Town, in South Africa, the Russian cargo ship Ivan Papanin reached the coast of Crown Bay on December 21st, 2008. On board were several Belgian scientists from the CAML (Census for Antarctic Marine Life - a project of the International Polar Year), engineers and technicians, two cameramen, one photographer and several new members for the building team. Alain Hubert and a traverse team were on site to help unload the containers carrying the technical installations of the Princess Elisabeth Station.

The ridge upon which the Princess Elisabeth Station is rooted is looking more and more like an ant hill. Construction has been going on for 2 months already, with over 50 people having already set foot on the site. This film shows you Utsteinen village and was shot from the plane that flies new team members in.

As project director and chief engineer of the Princess Elisabeth station construction, Alain Hubert, founding president of the International Polar Foundation (IPF), presents the genesis of the IPF and of the Princess Elisabeth project (Copyright credits: IPF and CAPA TV). The construction of the first "zero emission" research station would not have been possible without the contribution of project manager, Johan Berte, program administrator Nighat Amin, and the station's dedicated and supportive volunteers, engineering team, contractors, advisors, cooperating institutes and organisations, suppliers and collaborating sponsors.