Energy from glaciers

Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand

K2 peak

First Bachalsee Lake, Switzerland

Briksdalsbreen glacier, Norway

Mendenhall Glacier, Alaska

Dixence gravity dam, Switzerland

Stream fed by a glacier

Waters of glacial melt

Most of the mountain regions in areas with a humid and temperate climate, including Italy, have a high production of hydroelectric power. This is an important item in the national energy accounts. The water of the mountain torrents flows down great drops, which determine an optimum energetic potential, but generally the outputs of the torrents are too variable to be exploited continually. Glacier melt waters guarantee a supply of large quantities of water in the summer season, when the other courses of water have run dry. It is sufficient to compare, with equal precipitation, the summer output of water courses in the Alps and in Central and Southern Italy, to realize the importance of the existence of glacier bodies in the surface water regimen. For this reason many hydroelectric plants in the mountain areas are fed by ice melt waters, and in very many cases water is tapped directly from the torrents that form from the glaciers.