Belgium Names New Antarctica Research Station After Princess

She’s not yet eight years old, but Princess Elisabeth of Belgium already has a science research center named after her.

Belgium opened the new 20 million euro “zero emissions” polar science station in Antarctica on Sunday, returning to the icy continent to study climate change 42 years after closing its first base there.

The spaceship-like base sits on stilts on a ridge a few miles (kilometers) north of the Soer Rondane Mountains. It will focus on analyzing nearby deep ice shelves.

The Princess Elisabeth Station will also be the first to rely on wind turbines rather than diesel generators for power

The base is expected to have a lifespan of 25 years and will conduct research in climatology, glaciology and microbiology. Teams of scientists, including glaciologists, are already at work there from Belgium, Japan, France, Britain and the United States.

The station was inaugurated Sunday by Belgian Defense Minister Pieter De Crem and other government officials.

“It is really important that as a small country we can show our participation in large international efforts here in Antarctica,” De Crem told VRT television from Antarctica.

The Belgian government partially funds the public-private project.

The IPF said the new station “raises new standards” in research on the inhospitable polar continent.

“The Princess Elisabeth station attests that there is growing public interest in projects carrying a message of sustainable development, especially in terms of energy management,” the polar group said in a statement.

“The conception of a ‘zero emission’ building capable of standing up to the extreme conditions in the Antarctic goes to show that similar techniques can also be deployed in more temperate areas of the world,” it added.

Princess Elisabeth is the oldest child of Crown Prince Philippe and Crown Princess Mathilde. She is second in line to the Belgian throne after her father.

On Friday, the little princess visited the International Polar Foundation which was part of the inauguration of the scientific base.