MIT spin-off Quaise says it's going to use hijacked fusion technology to drill the deepest holes in history, unlocking clean, virtually limitless, supercritical geothermal energy that can re-power fossil-fuelled power plants all over the world.
The company has raised some US$63 million to date, comprising $18 million in seed funding, $5 million in grants, and $40 million in a Series A financing round closed earlier this month.
Quaise is working on full-scale, field-deployable demonstration machines, which it says will begin operating in 2024. It plans to have its first "super-hot enhanced geothermal system" rated to 100 megawatts in operation by 2026.
If they can reliably bust the 10 mile (16 KM) this is a game changer, every coal fired plant could be brought back to life for what 5 years of fuel costs. Running costs would be minimal after that. all on a footprint where the coal used to sit before burning.
I am not a nuclear physicist, but play one on the internet.
They're still stating the same goals, namely "2024 is when we first demonstrate this in the field, 2026 is when we first extract steam from the ground".
Today, we are pleased to announce the closing of a $21 Million Series A1 financing round led by
@PreludeVC and @SafarPartners to unlock abundant #geothermal energy for all
Just to note for distant future reference, if they do cool the mantle and stop plate tectonics, carbon-based life is going to die out… Much more dangerous than Global Warming, though might take a while.
Just to note for distant future reference, if they do cool the mantle and stop plate tectonics, carbon-based life is going to die out… Much more dangerous than Global Warming, though might take a while.
Just sayin’…
Nah, the best way to kill this would be to call it "Advanced Geo-nuclear Energy Extraction".
Just to note for distant future reference, if they do cool the mantle and stop plate tectonics, carbon-based life is going to die out… Much more dangerous than Global Warming, though might take a while.
Yep, it might.
If humanity extracted the totality of the energy we are now using (about 20 TW by average) from Earth's Mantle, that'd almost double our world present cooling rate, therefore shortening the estimated 2 to 5 billion years it will take until it cools down enough to stop plate tectonics, to 1 to 2.5 billion years.
I once calculated that there was not enough geothermal flux, even at a 100% conversion efficiency, to power the world’s energy needs. So to do more, we would need to extract STORED energy. What that would do to earthquakes, I hesitate to speculate.
I haven't heard about drilling causing earthquakes. Fracking, yes, depletion of underground water tables and oil deposits, yes. Drilling per se, not that I know. Can anyone give some examples?
Unless there are examples of this, or at least a credible theory regarding a relation, I think running to the bomb shelters is a bit premature.
"The problem is not what we don't know, but what we do know [that] isn't so" (Mark Twain)