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Interesting information, thank you! This was exactly what I was wondering about. The only part I'm struggling with a bit with is "10x non-ice prices". What do

• joshvm 4y ago
  The whole station runs on jet fuel (AN-8 kerosene) which is hauled inland from the coast. In the past this was done by aircraft, which emptied their tanks, but now it's mostly done using the South Pole Overland Traverse (SPOT). It takes about a month to get to the Pole this way, so you're paying for a tractor train plus staff and maintenance costs for at least two months (out and back). The alternative is paying for a lot of flying hours which is also expensive. There are now at least two traverses each summer. So the cost of the fuel is mostly in the cost of transportation i.e. very high. The generators are actually quite efficient. Water is heated as a byproduct of electricity production. I think it's by recovering heat from the engine exhaust. Antarctica is colloquially referred to as "Ice".