Antarctica wind farm

The world’s southernmost wind farm has opened in Antarctica. The Ross Island wind farm will provide 11% of the power to New Zealand’s Scott base and America’s McMurdo station. This will cut diesel consumption at the bases 463,000 liters per year.

Construction of the three-turbine wind farm was extremely difficult because temperatures there can fall as low at negative 57 degrees Celsius.

The power company who built the turbines says if the project is successful others could follow. They’re also evaluating solar generation for potential use.

DuPont Invests in Solar

The chemical maker says it is investing an additional $175 million to expand a line of solar materials. This is in addition to the $120 million the company set aside for solar projects last August.

DuPont is expanding its line of Tedlar products, which are used as a backing in solar cells. The money will go to the company’s Circleville, Ohio plant, which is scheduled to start producing Tedlar in September 2011.