Unlocking the True Power of Clean Geothermal Energy, 12 January 2023
Author: Carlo Cariaga
The Geological Survey of Northern Ireland will be hosting a webinar on 12 January 2023 discussing the millimeter wave technology being developed by Quaise Energy and how it can unlock geothermal resources at depths of up to 20 kilometers and temperatures of 500 degrees Celsius. The speaker for the webinar will be Matt Houde, Co-Founder and Project Manager of Quaise Energy. The company’s mission is to bring this inexhaustible, renewable, clean energy source to future generations. The company plans to vaporise enough rock using cutting edge millimetre wave drilling technology to create the world’s deepest holes and harvest geothermal energy at a scale that could satisfy human energy consumption for millions of years. Quaise’s founders have set an ambitious timeline to begin harvesting energy from a pilot well by 2026. Quaise’s drilling systems centre around a microwave-emitting device called a gyrotron, that has been used in research and manufacturing for decades. Tests on the 100-to-1 hole are expected to be completed sometime next year. Quaise is also hoping to begin vaporizing rock in field tests late next year. The company plans to begin harvesting energy from pilot geothermal wells that reach rock temperatures at up to 500°C by 2026.