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The ACCIONA Windpowered Antarctica expedition has reached the Geographic South Pole

02/01/2012

The team of scientists and explorers led by Ramón Larramendi has reached 90 degrees south latitude and 0 degrees longitude aboard a sled powered 100% by wind.

The team of scientists and explorers led by Ramón Larramendi has reached 90 degrees south latitude and 0 degrees longitude aboard a sled powered 100% by wind.

The ACCIONA Windpowered Antarctica expedition has covered 3500 km aboard a catamaran driven solely by large kites measuring up to eighty square meters. This means that for the first time in 100 years, since the Amundsen and Scott odyssey, the Geographic South Pole has been reached aboard a vehicle powered exclusively by clean energy.  

The members of the expedition-who began their journey on December 7-have encountered very adverse weather conditions. The difficulties, however, have not prevented them from making it to the Geographic South Pole by the target date, which has demonstrated the efficiency of wind-powered travel on the frozen continent.

The expedition, which was made possible thanks to support from ACCIONA, the Spanish multinational, has also aimed at collecting scientific samples that will provide new data on climate change and ice cap melting. 

The team of scientists and explorers was led by Ramon Larramendi, one of the most renowned world experts on the Arctic. The team consisted of ACCIONA's own Ignacio Oficialdegui, in charge of logistics and navigation, Juan Pablo Albar, reputed CSIC staff scientist and Javier Selva, in charge of communications.

The crossing of the ACCIONA Windpowered Antarctica team is the first of several expeditions and technical innovations planned by this team until 2014. The ultimate aim is to implement the scientific concept and optimization of the sled as a mobile polar base.

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