DOI: 10.1111/jiec.12972 RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS The environmental impacts of operating an Antarctic research station Enda Crossin 1 Karli Verghese 2 Simon Lockrey 2 Hieu Ha 2 Gordon Young 2 1 Engineering Practice Academy, Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Australia 2 Industrial Design, School of Design, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia Correspondence Karli Verghese, School of Design, RMIT Univer- sity, 125 LaTrobe Street, Melbourne, Australia. Email: karli.verghese@rmit.edu.au Funding Information LCA in the Last Frontier was made possible with logistical and grant funding support provided by the Australian Antarctic Division through the Australian Antarctic Science Program (AAS 4134). Editor Managing Review: Philippa Notten Abstract We present a life cycle assessment (LCA) of the operation of Casey Station in Antarctica. The LCA included quantifying material and energy flows, modeling of elementary flows, and subse- quent environmental impacts. Environmental impacts were dominated by emissions associated with freight operations and electricity cogeneration. A participatory design approach was used to identify options to reduce environmental impacts, which included improving freight efficiency, reducing the temperature setpoint of the living quarters, and installing alternative energy sys- tems. These options were then assessed using LCA, and have the potential to reduce environmen- tal impacts by between 2% and 19.1%, depending on the environmental indicator. KEYWORDS Antarctica, Casey Station, industrial ecology, life cycle assessment (LCA), material and energy flow analysis, strategy 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background Antarctica is remote, uninhabited and has some of the earth’s most extreme weather conditions. It is critical to the earth’s climate systems, with an ice sheet containing a unique record of the earth’s climate for over the past 1 million years. Australia was a key architect and one of the 12 original signatories to the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, which has dedicated the Antarctic (which includes the continent of Antarctica) to peace and science (The Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty, 1959). Between 1959 and 2016, 42 other countries have acceded to the Treaty. There are currently 54 parties in total. Significant research discoveries have occurred on Antarctica, including the ozone layer hole by British researchers in 1985 (Farman, Gardiner, & Shanklin, 1985). It is also a place which has largely been untouched by the impacts of humans, although this is increasingly under pressure due to increased tourism and operational support for science. The Protocol on Environmental Protection (termed the Madrid Protocol; The Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty, 1991) under the Antarctic Treaty, provides guidelines to signatories for the protection of the Antarctic environment, including those associated with human activities. Despite these guidelines, there is evidence that human activities in the Antarctic are directly impacting the environment (Bargagli, 2008). Indeed, there has been criticism that the requirements for environmental protection in the Madrid Protocol is often qualified by such phrases as “…as far as practical…,” which Bennett et al. (2015) suggest are used to “soften environmental obligations.” Research on the impact of human activities has largely focussed on the impacts of local pollutants, including hydrocarbons (e.g., from oil spills), disturbance of flora and fauna, and persistent or bioaccumulative compounds (Bargagli, 2008; Tin et al., 2009). There has been limited research on other environmental burdens associated with human activities in Antarctica, for example, the release of greenhouse gases, or the fate of pollutants arising from energy production and waste incineration. Although the greenhouse gases emitted in Antarctica are small within the global context, the symbolic value of reducing emissions associated with human activities in Antarctica should not be underestimated (Ainley & Tin, 2012). Pertierra, Hughes, Benayas, Justel, and Quesada (2013) investigated the greenhouse gas emissions associated with a remote science station in the South Journal of Industrial Ecology 2020;1–13. c ○ 2020 by Yale University 1 wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jiec