Systems of Power: A Spatial Envirotechnical Approach to Water Power and Industrialization in the Po Valley of Italy, ca.1880–1970

Parrinello, Giacomo

doi:10.1353/tech.2018.0062

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…The retreat of the delta during the twentieth century is perhaps the most dramatic example of morphological changes in the Po River basin linked to the alteration of sediment fluxes that have impacted other parts of the river basin as well Rinaldi 2003, 2008;Rinaldi et al 2010). Like most river historiography, the literature on the environmental history of the Po River has mainly focused on ecological and hydrological aspects (Coates 2013;Parrinello 2017Parrinello , 2018. This literature has mostly ignored the associated geomorphological processes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The retreat of the delta: a geomorphological history of the Po river basin during the twentieth century

2021

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The morphology of rivers and deltas, like many features of the Earth’s physical geography, is today subject to dramatic and rapid changes due to human actions. Deprived of sediment from their basins and besieged by rising sea levels, many deltas are at risk of complete disappearance. Despite a rich historical scholarship on rivers, we know little about the history of these important geomorphological processes. This paper sheds light on the geomorphological history of rivers by investigating the case of the Po River basin and its delta during the twentieth century. By combining the insights of fluvial geomorphology and a historical methodology, the paper analyses three main drivers of geomorphic alterations in the catchment that had an impact on the delta: hydroelectricity, sand and gravel mining, and methane extraction. In each case, it focuses on how experts, policy-makers, and overseers understood and regulated (or not) these geomorphic alterations. During much of the twentieth century, engineers and hydrologists monitored geomorphic processes with increasing detail, while state and business actors practiced multiple forms of sediment management. For most of the twentieth century, however, experts did not acknowledge the scale and nature of human-induced geomorphic alteration. Sediment management, moreover, did not take into account sediment scarcity until late in the century, and remained exclusively motivated by local concerns. Through this particular case, this paper offers insights on the historical limits to environmental expertise and policy when facing long term and large-scale geomorphic processes, and encourages a more sustained incorporation of fluvial geomorphology into the history of water systems.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The retreat of the delta: a geomorphological history of the Po river basin during the twentieth century

2021

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“…At the High Rhine and in the Alps, large-scale plants and reservoirs were constructed, substituting hydro for coal and expanding hydropower's role in electricity supply. Similar large-scale facilities arose in the USA, Canada, and European Wasserkraftstaaten (hydro-states) such as Switzerland, Italy, or Scandinavia (Gugerli 1996;Teisch 2001;Parrinello 2018;Cohn et al 2020;Jakobsson 2002;Zimmer 2019). In Upper Bavaria, for example, the power potential between the lakes Kochelsee and Walchensee ( Fig.…”

Section: Dam Crazy For White Coalmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…More recent studies from the field of history of technology describe such technological shifts as gradual processes that included various detours and lasted for decades in which old and new hydraulic engines coexisted or were hybridized (Parrinello 2018). Nevertheless, hydropower histories mainly highlight shifts from old and inefficient waterwheels to new, rationally designed turbines; from diffusion to a concentration of the power system; or from small-to large-scale facilities.…”

Section: De-constructing the Hydro-narrativementioning

confidence: 99%

Waterpower romance: the cultural myth of dying watermills in German hydro-narratives around 1900

Limmer

Zumbrägel

2020

Water Hist

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Even in the twenty-first century, myths of preindustrial forms of energy utilization are woven around watermills, waterwheels, and traditional millscapes. Along German watercourses, many grinding shops and hammer mills held on to waterwheels and delivered mechanical rather than electric power well into the twentieth century. It is not the case that the days of these “old technologies” (Edgerton 2008) were numbered as soon as hydroelectricity and “modern” hydraulic turbines appeared in the 1880s. When analyzing the dominating contemporaneous discourses around hydropower, it is easy to overlook these tendencies of historical persistence. This is not surprising, considering that scientific, literary, and preservationist narratives around 1900––actively and subtly––propagated and spread the idea of Muehlensterben, or the myth of dying watermills that has been rehearsed over and over again in reflections on hydropower history. In this article, we challenge the popular imaginaries of “old” and “outmoded” watermills in a two-step approach. Firstly, we contrast the well-known transition at the advent of hydroelectricity with hydropower activities, which took place simultaneously in Germany’s traditional commercial landscapes. Here, waterwheels remained in good use, despite the electrification and scientific development of hydraulic turbines. Secondly, we deconstruct the romantic bias towards the preindustrial symbolism of the waterwheel by analyzing different arguments in professional journals as well as romanticizing and nostalgic literature. We combine approaches and empirical material of both historical and literary sciences to gain a better understanding of how different narratives reinforced the image of watermills and waterwheels being outdated. In this respect, the interdisciplinary approach contributes to the emerging field of the Environmental Humanities.

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“…Le moulin est alors « intégré à l'intérieur d'un système général, un réseau interconnecté d'unités de production fonctionnant de manière indépendante par rapport à la diversité des contextes locaux », dans lequel « la machine impose et définit le temps du fleuve et, par contre coup, celle du paysage tout entier » (Gé Bartoli & Gosselin, 2020, p. 26-27). L'électrification des installations hydromécaniques dans le Po au tournant du XX e siècle transforme un ensemble de convertisseurs déjà organisés en système autour du fleuve, en un système encore plus interdépendant, spécialisé énergétiquement et étendu spatialement (Parinello, 2018). Mais l'eau, dans ses multiples usages, ne peut être réduite à une force motrice, et on peut voir, dans les quatre systèmes énergétiques décrits plus haut (le moulin, le monastère et ses multiples convertisseurs autour de l'eau, la rivière entièrement canalisée dans un but exclusif de production localisée, puis délocalisée) différents degrés de synergies entre convertisseurs et de spécialisation énergétique -et donc différents degrés d'inclusion possibles d'autres usages et manières d'habiter le territoire.…”

Section: Systèmes éNergétiques Systèmes Techniques Fécondité Et Limitesunclassified

Introduction - Histoire de l’énergie et approches systémiques : les synergies et les imaginaires énergétiques en question

Marrec¹

2022

cahierscfv

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Systems of Power: A Spatial Envirotechnical Approach to Water Power and Industrialization in the Po Valley of Italy, ca.1880–1970

Cited by 10 publications

References 36 publications

The retreat of the delta: a geomorphological history of the Po river basin during the twentieth century

The retreat of the delta: a geomorphological history of the Po river basin during the twentieth century

Waterpower romance: the cultural myth of dying watermills in German hydro-narratives around 1900

Introduction - Histoire de l’énergie et approches systémiques : les synergies et les imaginaires énergétiques en question

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