-
First Geothermal Plant in the U.S.
A well was drilled outside of San Francisco for the first geothermal plant. It was able to produce 250 kW of power, enough to power the hotel and resort owned by the builder. -
Tennessee Valley Authority
As part of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal relief efforts, the Tennessee Valley Authority was established. Jobs were creating by building a dam to supply hydropower that enabled many people to receive electricity. -
Smith-Putnam Wind Turbine
The first megawatt wind turnbine was built by Palmer Putnam and the S. Morgan Smith Company on Grandpa's Knob Mountain, a previously unnamed place that had enough elevation to receive a lot of wind, but not ice. This led to increased use of windpower and more advanced turbines to follow. -
First Practical Solar Cell
Bell Laboratories used the experiments of A.E. Becquerel and Albert Einstein and advanced their research enough to make a practical photovoltaic (or solar) cell. -
Shippingport Atomic Power Plant
The Shippingport Atomic Power Plant, located about 30 miles from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, was the first full-scale atomic power plant for peacetime uses in the world. It functioned from 1957 to 1982. -
Kuwait Oil Well Fires
In part of the Iraqi military's scorched earth policy in the Gulf War, Saddam Hussein ordered that the prosperous oil wells in Kuwait be set on fire. They were lit and mines were placed around them so that rescue crews had to get rid of the mines before they could stop the fires. They burned for ten months, until November 1991, causing highly damaging pollution. -
General Motors EV1
The first mass-produced electric car was made by GM, called the EV1. It led California to pass legislation requiring the top seven automobile manufacturers to create emission-free cars in order to be sold in California, which had the worst air quality in the country at the time. -
Prestige Oil Spill
The oil tanker Prestige was traveling off the coast of Spain, one of its 12 tanks burst in a storm. Spain, France and Portugal all refused to let the damaged ship dock for repairs, and after spending an additional week at sea, the ship split in half and sank, leaking around 20 million gallons of oil into the ocean. -
Coal Ash Spill
In Tennessee, 1.1 billion gallons of coal ash were released into the environment when an ashy dike ruptured. The fly ash contained chemicals that were extremely dangerous, such as arsenic, lead, barium, chromium and manganese. Two nearby waterways, the Emory and Clinch river waterways, were contaminated. -
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster
During the horrific earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant's reactors all shut down. The generators kicked in to power the electronic and cooling systems, but when the tsunami reached the plant, it flooded the generators, which were keeping the nuclear reactors from melting down. Explosions began occurring, and radioactive materials were released into the environment. The meltdown is classified as a level 7 (the max) on the I.N.E.S.
