A Massachusetts startup plans to drill more than 12 miles into the Earth to tap what experts call a "million-year energy source" beneath our feet.
BusinessWire published a press release from Quaise Energy detailing the $40 million the company has secured to help implement the aggressive geothermal project, which is a result of research completed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
If realized, the vision could quickly transform our energy system with cleaner, "virtually unlimited" power available all over the globe. What's more, the plan would utilize existing power plants, infrastructure, and work crews to get the job done, all per Quaise.
"Our technology allows us to access energy anywhere in the world, at a scale far greater than wind and solar, enabling future generations to thrive in a world powered with abundant clean energy," Quaise CEO Carlos Araque said in the press release.
It all starts by drilling "deeper, hotter, and faster" than any project attempted to date using a device called a gyrotron, the company says on its website. After using standard drills to cut through initial ground layers, Quaise experts will bring out the proprietary hole-makers, which utilize "millimeter waves to reach unprecedented depths." On the other end, a dozen miles down, temperatures will hit 932 degrees Fahrenheit, all according to the startup.
"At these temperatures, geothermal is so powerful that it can repower most fossil-fired power plants around the world. It enables a much faster energy transition," the Quaise experts note on the company website.
Geothermal is a science already in practice. In fact, government programs are rewarding homeowners who switch to heating and cooling systems that make use of renewable underground temperatures. Google is even investing in the technology to help power its massive databases.
But Quaise's initiative takes the concept to an entirely deeper level. Furthermore, the company's team claims it can reemploy oil and gas crews in an effort that produces energy with little to no waste. It all happens while using less than 1% of the land needed for solar and wind projects, per Quaise.
Since some impressive milestones would be marked by the work (deeper, hotter, faster), any concerns about the impact of drilling that far in multiple spots around the world would seem to be sensible.
For their part, Quaise experts seem confident in their ability to safely "vaporize boreholes." The company plans to have the first rig ready this year. By 2028, there should be a former dirty energy–burning power plant retrofitted to geothermal, per a Quaise timeline.
"A rapid transition to clean energy is one of the biggest challenges faced by humanity," Safar Partners Managing Partner Arunas Chesonis said in the press release. Safar, also in Massachusetts, led the most recent funding round.
"Quaise's solution makes us optimistic for a future where clean, renewable energy will secure the future of our planet," Chesonis said.
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