Quaise plans to dig deep into the Earth with new technology to harness sustainable geothermal energy.
Wind, solar, and nuclear power are seen as solutions to the rapidly impending climate crisis.
However, one promising source of sustainable energy remains largely untapped and under-appreciated: geothermal energy.
Quaise plans to dig deep into the Earth with new technology to harness sustainable geothermal energy. (Photo: Screenshot from video byQuaise)
Geothermal energy comes from within the Earth, where slow radioactive decay produces a never-ending supply of powerful heat.
On the surface of Earth, geothermal heat usually appears in areas with hot springs or geysers.
Quaise has raised $63 million in start-up cash to proceed with the development of their technology.
A geothermal plant releasing steam in Iceland. (Photo:Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)
A gyrotron is a vacuum tube that creates electromagnetic radiation by shaking electrons inside a magnetic field.
Essentially, the technology burns a hole through very hot, dense rock.
Quaise hopes its drilling techniques will be an equitable solution to the world’s energy problems.
Each shaft, once drilled, is expected to last up to a century.
CEO and co-founder Carlos Araque assured New Atlas that no Earth-shattering calamities are likely to result.
The Earth already leaches heat, so drilling will not release more into the environment.
He also mentions drilling is different than fracking for natural gas, which has its own concerns.
A geothermal plant releasing steam in Iceland.
