Digging the World’s Deepest Hole to Extract Energy

(Image: Quaise) An international startup is aiming to break its way into a new generation of energy production by toppling more world records than one. 

Quaise Energy, a geothermal energy company born from MIT, has set its sights on harnessing the unlimited renewable energy that exists beneath the earth’s surface. To do so, Quaise plans on drilling holes at least twice as deep as the deepest holes ever created (i.e. Russia’s Kola Superdeep Borehole and Qatar’s Al Shaheen oil well, each of which sit at about 7.5 miles deep), which, according to CEO Carlos Araque, would generate power “at a scale far greater than wind and solar.” 

A gyrotron, as depicted by Quaise.

Geothermal energy is made up of heat produced deep inside the earth. This heat is the result of the gradual radioactive breakdown of radioactive particles in the earth’s core (a process that occurs with all rocks, despite the negative connotation of the word “radioactive”). Given the continuous nature of this decay, the earth is constantly producing geothermal energy, making it a fantastic renewable energy source—if we can reach it. Because of how deep underground this form of energy exists, most geothermal energy plants are built near volcanoes or tectonically active fault lines. But this limits the number of regions that can benefit from geothermal energy, which is why Quaise seeks to dig unusually-long access holes instead. 

To achieve its mission, Quaise plans on using gyrotrons, a specific type of vacuum tube that shoots millimeter-wave light beams, to burn holes into the earth. Gyrotrons are capable of burning holes about 12 miles deep, allowing Quaise to facilitate the water-into-steam sequence that effectively produces usable energy. A single super-deep hole will take a few months to burn, but once finished, each will be capable of supplying energy to a region for up to 100 years. If all goes to plan, Quaise will be busy retrofitting coal-fueled power plants into geothermal energy hotspots by 2028.

Though some parts of the world utilize geothermal energy more than others, this form of energy currently only powers a small fraction of civilization. Quaise believes that finding a way to safely harness geothermal energy in more areas around the globe could be the key to reducing humans’ ever-lasting reliance on fossil fuels, which remains only slightly reduced by (relatively) recent solar and wind power developments. 

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