The Discovery of Geothermal Energy

Geothermal Energy First Discovered

In 1913, Prince Piero Ginori-Conti of Trevignano was responsible for completing the world's first commercial geothermal energy plant near Lardarello, Italy located in the Italian province of Pisa in the region of Tuscany. The plant was built in a location known as Devil's Valley. The natural thermal springs located in and around Lardarello were known as "soffioni boraceferi" which means boraciferous steam vents given that they produced large amounts of boric acid. The boric acid was and still is used to manufacture perborates using Faraday's method of electrolytic oxidation.^[1] Perborate is a term describing salt containing borate. Today, they are commonly used in cleaning products.

In 1913, Ginori-Conti was the owner of Lardarel Establishments which was founded by Francisco Lardarel in 1818. The boric acid which the company harvests, was discovered as early as 1777 and was used in applications as early as 1815.^[2] Prince Ginori-Conti became the general manager of the company in 1899 and he later inherited the company from his father-in-law, Florestano Lardarel upon his death in 1911. Prince Ginori-Conti had married Florestano's daughter Adriana in 1894 and there were no sons to pass the company on to.

Prior to 1913, Ginori-Conti and the company had been experimenting with geothermal energy for roughly a decade. On July 4, 1904, he was able to create enough geothermal electricity at Lardarello using a small steam engine to power five light bulbs.

The Discovery of Geothermal Energy - YouTube Short

As they continued exploring how to create the first commercial geothermal energy facility, Ginori-Conti and his team understood that they couldn't connect the steam generator directly to the steam escaping the "soffioni." This was because the steam contained corrosive chemicals that would damage the turbines in the generator. One of the engineer's on the team, Signor Bringhenti created a simple answer by creating a "depurator." Effectively, it was a way to use the thermal steam to create pure steam without the corrosive chemicals.^[3]

When the plant first began, it was producing 250 kW of energy. This initial plant served as an experimental geothermal energy site. Immediately following, in 1914, construction on an additional plant began at the site known as the Lardarello Geothermal Plant using three 2,500 kW generators. By 1916, the plant was completed with two of the 2,500 kW generators in use and the other one used as a backup.^[4] In a 1934 publication, it was stated that there were 135 steam wells supplying steam at the Lardarello site and multiple other sites with geothermal plants in the region.^[5]

The Geysers Geothermal Complex, California

At one point, it was recorded that Prince Ginori-Conti believed that there were western United States geysers that are comparable to the ones in Italy.^[6]

Someone in America was listening because in the mid-1920s, The Geyser Development Company acquired strategic acreage north of San Francisco known for thermal springs. This location was known as "The Geysers" and here the first steam wells in America were drilled in 1921. The first wells were drilled between 62 and 148 meters deep. The development of the facility at The Geysers was slow initially, but following World War II, The Geysers Geothermal Complex experienced aggressive expansion. Today, the original steam wells are still producing steam at the same rate as when they were first drilled in the 1920s.^[7]And The Geyers Geothermal Complex is the largest geothermal energy complex in the world.

Prince Ginor-Conti died in 1939 and Nature journal stated, "Italy [has] lost one of her most energetic industrial personalities and international science a devoted supporter."^[8]

144 Years Earlier

In 1769, the first description of the pools at Lardarello were recorded by Tozzetti Targioni. Targioni was conducting a survey of the natural resources in the area.^[9]

“They are places where water pool, coupled in the Earth interior with volatile mineral acids, Sulphur, Alum, Vitriol and salt...absorb a great heat and spring out boiling in a terrifying way, with horrible noise, with hot and wet vapour, dense as fog, with sulphur smell...”^[10]

Then in 1777, the chemist U.F. Hoffer discovered that the steam contained boric acid as he was analyzing the "Lagoni" just south of Lardarello at Monterotondo Marittimo.