Infernal Power

New Hampshire's Senator Styles Bridges suspected a new and outrageous boondoggle: Italy was trying to harness volcanoes at U.S. taxpayers' expense! After his volcanic outburst had subsided, and the facts became known, the idea did not seem quite so outrageous.

Nobody was going to tap old Vesuvius. But, the U.S. State Department announced, Italy is going to eke out its meager power supply with volcanic energy. A $6,000,000 new power station will be built at Lar-derello (near Leghorn), using volcanic steam to generate about 75,000 kilowatts.

Actually, the use of volcanic energy is nothing new in Italy. In a yo-square-mile district around Larderello, steam mixed with chemicals has hissed out of the ground since classical times. It gets its energy from a mass of hot rock that worked its way toward the surface ages ago and has not cooled off yet.

In 1830 the steam was used to concentrate boric acid brought to the surface by natural soffioni (blowholes). In 1905 it ran a steam engine and a 20-kilowatt generator. A sizable industry has grown up around Larderello, producing borax, carbon dioxide and ammonia as well as power. Italian geologists believe that the output, both of chemicals and power, can be increased considerably, hence the new power plant.

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