1:1:E. ENERGY

Aurora's energy requirements can be broken down into two categories: heating and electricity. Sources of heat include resistive heaters, fuel cell waste heat and chemical combustion. Electricity can be produced by solar panels during the summer, and chemical fuels during the winter. Overall needs will depend on crew compliment, science objectives, and the size of the station. All hab modules will require year-round heating to remain livable.

In addition to solar power and hydrocarbon fuels, a hydrogen energy system is explored here. During the Antarctic summer, when electricity from sunlight is cheap and abundant, electrolyzers can split water to store energy in free hydrogen gas. When the sun is close to – or below – the horizon, fuel cells reverse the reaction, providing electricity to run the station, and water as a byproduct. The system acts like a battery, capturing energy for later use. If scaled up enough, the technique can put a serious dent in the amount of fuel Aurora needs to import from the outside.

Finally, since Antarctic temperatures will freeze most hydrocarbon fuels, ways to store fuel are discussed.

Contents:

1:1:E:1. Heat

1:1:E:2. Electricity

1:1:E:3. Hydrogen

1:1:E:4. Fuel Storage

Based on information outlined in the sections above, several station configurations, and resulting energy requirements, are shown in figures 1 through X: