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.
REYKJAVIK, ICELANDâSnorri Sturlusson is the first name in geothermal development here. That's because this original Icelander tapped Earth's heat for a pool in his backyard, according to the medieval Icelandic Sagas. That pool, recently restored, still sits atop a grassy hill in the town of Reykholt.