This Italian village has been drawing its electricity from magma for years!

Written with contributions from Pricewise

In this century, we are in the process of innovating coal-fired power stations towards oblivion. We only want green electricity. Sun, wind and water. Even from gym equipment and playgrounds. But magma, which is close to the surface of the Earth? In Larderello (Italy), they have been doing this since 2012.

Apocalyptic scenes

2012, the year of the end of the earth and the abandonment of humanity. At least that was after 2000, the first year in which a major disaster was predicted. There is unfortunately no shortage of catastrophes, but not in the form of apocalyptic scenes. The earth didn’t explode or anything. In fact, that suffocating and ominous magma that we see floating in disaster films has been in use since that year in a village in the Italian region of Tuscany. You know, this beautiful region where the anniversary year of Wie is de Mol was celebrated.

Volcanic and tectonic plates

Below Tuscany, two tectonic plates meet: North Africa and Eurasia. Not that this causes a lot of thermal disturbances in this region: the Larderello volcano has been silent for almost eight centuries. But the magma is quite close to the surface of the Earth. The heat from it, which reaches the bottom, is now used to generate electricity. Does not cost anything. Compare energy From this situation, you can safely use it from the sun or from a tank, as enough electricity is generated from Larderello to provide electricity to a million homes.

Once started with five bulbs

The history of this form of energy production goes even further. As early as 1904, Piero Ginori-Conti, in collaboration with the University of Pisa, generated enough electricity to light five light bulbs. Simply by using geothermal water vapor to power the dynamo of a steam engine. You just have to come up with it. It was the world premiere of so-called geothermal energy, also known as geothermal energy. In 1913, the first sustainable geothermal power plant was even a fact! Deep in the region, there were connections that made contact through miles of cables. So that was over a century ago.

World leader

The factory fell victim to WWII bombings, but when that misery ended, it was successfully rebuilt. In 1962, Italy became the recognized world leader in geothermal energy. It served as an example for Iceland, New Zealand, Japan and the United States. And the people of this part of Tuscany are still working in innovative ways with geothermal energy. Want to know more? Go during your next vacation in Tuscany visit the geothermal museum in Larderello.