The World's First CO2 Free Expedition to Antarctica

SEOUL, May 18, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ --South Korea's major broadcast company, Seoul Broadcasting System ("SBS"), will air its documentary, "Antarctic, Land of Future" at 11pm on the 22nd of May and 29th of May. "Antarctic, Land of Future" is a CO2 free expedition across Antarctica and coincides with the centennial anniversary of Roald Amundsen's Antarctic expedition.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110518/CN04409 )

The World's Maiden Mobile Solar Power Expedition Across the Antarctic

As the world is threatened by global warming, SBS's documentary raises awareness to Koreans, and the world, the risks of global warming and substitutes the use of fossil fuels by using eco-friendly energy in a CO2 free expedition across the Antarctic.

The eco-mobile, developed in one year specifically for the expedition, was designed and engineered by SBS's production team and a technical expert, is the world's first solar powered snow mobile used in an Antarctic expedition. The eco-mobile is powered by twelve 210W solar modules, four wind turbines, a 5kW electric motor and a 48v/100AH LiFePO4 battery. The eco-mobile produces approximately 2kWh, maintains an average speed of 20kph and a 10 degree climbing force. Each eco-mobile contained three battery packs with each battery capable of traveling up to 20km. While the expedition's goal was to travel 60km per day, actual travel distance was measured at 30km per day due to 20 days of extreme weather conditions which led to difficulties in recharging the batteries during the 41 day expedition.

A Historical Antarctic Expedition by Alpinist Young-Seok Park, the First Person in the World to Complete a True Adventure Grand Slam

Polar explorers warned that it would be impossible to traverse the Antarctic solely with the eco-mobile. However this theory was proven untrue under the leadership of Young Seok Park, the first person in the world to complete a true Adventure Grand Slam. Under extreme weather conditions and average temperatures of 30 degree below zero, Young Seok Park controlled the eco-mobile in blizzard conditions of 20mps, constant whiteout and miles of sastrugi. The eco-mobiles were maintained by the expedition team which included the eco-mobile's technical development expert.

The documentary was produced by Un-Hoon Shin who planned the expedition for over two years and is narrated by Ji-Tae Yoo, a popular Korean actor, who starred in the Korean feature film "Antarctic Diary."

After leaving Union Glacier Base Camp on 19th of December, 2010, without the use of any fossil fuels, the expedition team reached the South Pole on 28th of January, 2011 crossing 1,200km of Antarctic sea ice. The success of the SBS team's CO2 free eco-mobile Antarctic expedition highlights the world's quest to reduce CO2 emissions.

Broadcast Schedule

25 May 23:00 (Korea Standard Time) Raising our Solar Sails in a Sea of Ice

29 May 23:00 (Korea Standard Time) A Desperate Battle in the White Jungle

Video clip available: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9idPg8BfzLk

Producer Un-Hoon Shin is Korea's representative expedition documentary film producer. Besides this documentary, Shin has tracked and featured a number of expeditions of alpinist Young Seok Park until the explorer completed the Adventure Grand Slam for the first time in the world. In addition, the producer made "Normandy Korean," a documentary film to depict the life of a Korean captive wearing a German uniform whose photo was circulating in the internet. This documentary led famous novelist Jung-Rae Cho to write a novel and it is currently being produced as a movie. Following BBC, Shin also covered the story of a tribe who has lived for more than 400 years in remote highlands of Colombia. Other films including a reincarnation in Bhutan show his continuous efforts.

Due to his high interest in the conversion of broadcasting and communications technology, he introduced the phone-based survey and ARS system to the broadcasting environment which is very common now. He achieved a success in live SNG broadcast transmission for six consecutive weeks, the longest record ever made in Korea. He also made it possible to use SNG on the peak of Himalaya.

SOURCE Seoul Broadcasting System