When it comes to renewable energy, we often think of wind and sunlight. It is not uncommon to see major breakthroughs in the energy industry around these two near-infinite sources.
However, wind and sunshine have their own minus points. They don’t really work in the long run, nor can they be applied to all locations. Despite many breakthroughs continuously appearing, storing and transporting energy through batteries is still very limited and expensive. Humanity is still walking on the road in search of near-infinite energy.
As it turns out, what we’re looking for is right under our feet. The core of the planet we live in is hotter than the surface of the Sun, technology just needs to dig deep enough to exploit the huge potential heat source. Up to this point, the limitations of machines have been the thing that prevents humans from taking advantage of geothermal energy.
Startup Quaise Energy aspires to become one of the leading geothermal operators. Starting from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2018, the fledgling startup has just received an additional 40 million USD in capital to realize the geothermal dream.
They plan to replace the traditional drill bit with a beam of light just a few millimeters in diameter, capable of evaporating rocks instead of crushing them like conventional drills. Touchless drilling technology has the potential to dig holes up to 20 km deep, where temperatures can reach 370 degrees Celsius. The water entering this deep hole becomes extremely hot steam, shoots back to the surface and can cause rotation. generator turbine.
“Today, we still have difficulty in reaching the target,” said Quaise co-founder and CEO Carlos Araque during a press conference held in 2020.Our promise is to dig to depths of 10 to 20 km, and we’ll get our hands on an endless source of energy.“.
Before achieving its goal, Quaise will have to demonstrate the effectiveness of its proposed technology.
Superheated gas can be used as a drill to penetrate rock.
“Core Technology”, seeks to dig down to the core
The deeper you go, the higher the temperature will be. The feature that makes geothermal mining successful is also an obstacle preventing this particular energy sector from succeeding. Once deep enough, the electronics will melt, causing the mining to stop immediately. And yet, the drill bit easily wears out in harsh conditions. Replacing the drill bit of a digging system that is several kilometers deep is very time consuming.
That’s why Quaise applies touchless drilling technology.
MIT researcher Paul Woskov is one of the founders of the new technology, dedicating 10 years of work to proving the no-touch drilling device is physically possible. The system will use a beam of microwave energy, generated by a device called a gyrotron placed on the ground.
Mr. Woskov holds in his hand a specimen drilled by the advanced system.
Microwaves shoot down the hole with a combination of gases including air, nitrous and argon, which vaporize layers of rock to drill as deep as possible. The gas will cling to the evaporated soil and rock, bringing them to the surface of the Earth like the way volcanoes spew ash into the atmosphere.
The startup intends to use $ 63 million in capital to conduct its first real project in 2024, with an expected location in the western United States. They will continue to dig deep until they reach the set goal, to gradually build the first geothermal plants in this area.
“The bottleneck is still drilling technology“, said CEO Araque. “Once it’s resolved, all the other elements will settle down right away“. The team plans to produce up to terawatts electricity with a network of geothermal plants around the world.
Despite many difficulties ahead, needing huge capital as well as a long development time, geothermal still has the potential to become the future of the energy industry. Geothermal will not dissipate within the next few billion years, still waiting for us to explore. As technology continues to advance, geothermal can help us overcome our thirst for energy, no matter what it is used for.