You Can Have Geothermal Power Everywhere If You Drill Deep Enough

Source: You Can Have Geothermal Power Everywhere If You Drill Deep Enough

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But Quaise Energy, a startup spun out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is applying new drilling technology to make it possible to get geothermal energy anywhere. They don’t want to lily dip at 6.5 miles, either, but they want to go down 12 miles to where it is even hotter (930 degrees Fahrenheit) and anywhere in the world—perhaps right next to existing generating plants already attached to the grid. According to the press release:

“A rapid transition to clean energy is one of the biggest challenges faced by humanity,” said Arunas Chesonis, Managing Partner of Safar Partners. “Geothermal energy can provide a lot more power using fewer resources. We have to approach the clean energy transition from both of those angles. Quaise’s solution makes us optimistic for a future where clean, renewable energy will secure the future of our planet.”

The key is the drilling technology, developed by Paul Woskov at MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center. Instead of drill bits that will wear out or even melt, they drill with microwaves. As Quaise Energy describes it:

“Our gyrotron-powered drilling platform vaporizes boreholes through rock and provides access to deep geothermal heat without complex downhole equipment. Based on breakthrough fusion research and well-established drilling practices, we are developing a radical new approach to ultra-deep drilling. First, we use conventional rotary drilling to get to basement rock. Then, we switch to high-power millimeter waves to reach unprecedented depths.”

The microwave beam is hot enough to evaporate rock, and the vaporized rock is pumped back to the surface. Meanwhile, the heat vitrifies the side of the hole, turning it essentially into a glass pipe.