GEOTHERMAL ELECTRICITY
Submitted by on January 1, 1998
Category: Technology
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GEOTHERMAL ELECTRICITY
In the land where Etruscans bathed in natural hot springs almost 3,500 years ago, warm geothermal water has been in use for centuries, treating skin diseases, offering relaxation, heating buildings, producing useful chemicals like borax, and growing plants. But Italy's greatest geothermal claim to fame is the development of the world's first geothermally-driven electrical power plant in Larderello. Opened in 1904, the plant was producing 132 megawatts by the 1940s. Even when the power plants were destroyed in World War II, the geothermal reservoir remained and so the energy source was not lost. Soon the power plants were rebuilt, and today the area produces enough clean geothermal electricity for over a half a million lucky Italians.
From the first power plant in Larderello, Italy, to the state-of-the-art...