More than 2,000 years ago, Greek and Roman engineers harnessed the power of water to drive grain mills, and the technology soon spread as far as China, where it was used to forge iron. By the 4th century, the Romans had scaled up water wheel technology to build a massive flour plant in Arles, France, powered by 16 overshot water wheels. During the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci sketched out visions of water-driven sawmills, forges, factories and spinning works.
Today’s hydroelectric turbines are direct descendants of those early realizations that water is a highly efficient means of transferring kinetic energy. Industrial boilers and steam generating electrical plants take advantage of water’s thermal properties and the force it can exert once enough energy has been invested in boiling it. In all, water is energy.
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