The idea: Quaise Energy is developing a new kind of drilling system that uses millimeter wave energy to melt and vaporize rock. It claims this system has the potential to drill to depths up to 12 miles — miles deeper than the deepest hole ever drilled with physical drill bits.
At those depths, temperatures will reach several hundreds degrees pretty much wherever you are. And when water gets that hot — “supercritical” — you can extract a ton of energy from it. Pumping water into these super-heated wells could produce steam to spin turbines and generate electricity.
Discover more from Vlad Tepes
Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.
A look at the background of the 1995 video demonstrates that it is a distraction.
But, today, public radio broadcast a pie-in-the-sky (or not) piece on tapping unlimited energy from the earth.
https://apps.bostonglobe.com/science/environment/climate/graphics/2022/03/deep-geothermal-drilling/
https://open.mit.edu/c/maca/4em/mit-spinoff-plans-to-drill-12-miles-into-earths
the U.S. has just 64 geothermal power plants, which produce a scant 0.4% of its electricity.
The idea: Quaise Energy is developing a new kind of drilling system that uses millimeter wave energy to melt and vaporize rock. It claims this system has the potential to drill to depths up to 12 miles — miles deeper than the deepest hole ever drilled with physical drill bits.
At those depths, temperatures will reach several hundreds degrees pretty much wherever you are. And when water gets that hot — “supercritical” — you can extract a ton of energy from it. Pumping water into these super-heated wells could produce steam to spin turbines and generate electricity.