The sun sets near Enel Green Power’s geothermal power site in Larderello, Italy.
Photographer: Clara Vannucci/Bloomberg
Tuscany Geysers That Inspired Dante’s ‘Inferno’ Can Fix Europe’s Energy Bind
Geothermal is an infinite source of power once used by the Roman Empire.
The steam and geysers rising from the valleys of Tuscany inspired Dante Alighieri’s vision of hell in The Divine Comedy. Centuries later, they’re providing Italy with an inexhaustible supply of renewable energy.
Larderello is home to the world’s oldest geothermal power site, where Enel Green Power turns heat released by the Earth’s core into electricity. The facility started powering light bulbs in 1904 and now the whole site generates more than 5% of the nation’s clean power production.