Of the bacterial isolates found in the Arctic that are able to degrade PCBs, none used compounds such as 2-chlorobiphenyl, 3-chlorobiphenyl, camphor, citronellol, cymene, dehydroabietic acid, limonene, methanol, n-hexadecane, pentachlorophenol, phenol, or pinene as primary growth substrates (Master and Mohn 1998).
In the 20th century, demand for electricity led to the consideration of geothermal power as a generating source. Prince Piero Ginori Conti tested the first geothermal power generator on 4 July 1904, at the same Larderello dry steam field where geothermal acid extraction began. It successfully lit four light bulbs. Later, in 1911, the world's first commercial geothermal power plant was built there.
In 1606, de Ayanz registered the first patent for a machine that used steam power to propel water from mines. The Spanish inventor â who is also credited with inventing one of the world's first air conditioning systems â used his steam engine to remove water from silver mines in Guadalcanal, Seville.ewcomen's atmospheric engine â so named because the level of steam pressure it used neared atmospheric pressure â was the first commercially successful machine that used steam to operate a water pump.