Snow cannons have become a common sight in most ski resorts nowadays, to make up for the lack of snow and to keep visitors coming. But their use is environmentally hazardous, expensive – due to the large amounts of electricity needed – and unreliable as they often fail to work in temperatures above zero.
Now, two Italian engineers have perfected the recipe to transform water first into slush, then into fluffy white flakes in a few seconds, without any using chemical additives. They’ve called their invention “Neve XN“Perenne or “Neve Perenne” (“perennial snow” in Italian).
“There are two main differences between our machine and a snow cannon: first, it consumes just one tenth of the electricity normally used by a snow cannon. And second, once you turn it on, our machine produces a constant amount of snow regardless of weather conditions,” says co-inventor Francesco Besana.
Inside the machine, high-pressure steam produces a vacuum that turns the water into slush. Outside, electron
