Digging the World’s Deepest Hole to Extract Energy

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.”

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.

Continue reading

TSMC Will Spend an Extra $10B on Chip Production in 2021

TMSC is ramping up its capital expenditures next year, investing an additional $10B into advanced chip manufacturing.

Perseverance Rover Extracts Breathable Oxygen From Martian Atmosphere

This has the potential to change how we explore Mars and the rest of the solar system.

Scientists Find Extraterrestrial Isotopes on Ocean Floor

An analysis of isotopes in the ocean crust reveals radioactive materials that could only have arrived here from outside our solar system, and their presence could help us better understand the physics of cataclysmic events like supernovae.

Alder Lake Extravaganza: Intel Unloads Details on its Next-Gen CPU

Intel's desktop CPUs have been stuck on 14nm for over six years now, and the cracks in that process node have been showing for at least two. The manufacturer was finally ready to share details on Alder Lake, Gracemont, and Golden Cove with us, and it had a lot to talk about.