The creators of a new machine capable of digging the world’s deepest hole believe it could unlock enough renewable energy to power the entire world.
Quaise Energy is currently developing a drilling rig that they hope will reach 10 miles beneath the surface of the Earth in a bid to tap into “inexhaustible clean energy” from the geothermal heat in the crust.
Quaise Energy
Speaking at TedX in Boston, USA, co-founder Matt Houde said: “The total energy content of the heat stored underground exceeds our annual energy demand as a planet by a factor of a billion.
“Tapping into a fraction of that is more than enough to meet our energy needs for the foreseeable future.”
The world’s deepest hole is in the Arctic Circle, measuring 12.2km deep, and took the USSR more than decades to drill and was actually abandoned following the Soviet Union collapse.
Quaise Energy’s plan is to replace drill bits with millimetre wave energy that will melt and vaporise the harder rock it encounters, which was developed by MIT researchers 15 years ago.
Challenges still hinder the process, but Houde remains optimistic.
The creators of a new machine capable of digging the world’s deepest hole believe it could unlock enough renewable energy to power the entire world.
“Our current plan is to drill the first holes in the field in the next few years.
“And while we continue to advance the technology to drill deeper, we will also explore our first commercial geothermal projects in shallower settings.”
Quaise Energy believe that, if successful, it could help make any country on Earth become energy independent. More than $63 million has been raised in funding to help commercialise the technology.