In 1839, Becquerel discovered that sunlight extended the life of a battery. Today, Europe is the world's largest market for solar panels. In 1884, Kaplan constructed small watermills. Today, his water turbine can be found in the largest power stations. In 1891, the Danish inventor La Cour used windmills to generate electricity. Today, Europe is home to 35,000 wind turbines which serve the same purpose.
In 1904, Conti's revolutionary geothermal power station produced 220 kilowatts of electricity. Modern-day equivalents reach 400 megawatts. Europe is the largest producer of environmentally-friendly power in the world.
