Quaise Energy is on a mission to prove that deep geothermal drilling could provide more than enough clean energy to meet the world’s needs as we move away from fossil fuels. Matt Houde, cofounder at Quaise Energy, explained its potential at the TEDX Boston Planetary Stewardship Event last week.
The aim of the Boston event, which was timed to run at the same time as COP27 in Egypt, was to “spotlight actionable ideas for human activity to achieve a sustainable relationship with the planet’s natural systems,” according to TEDX Boston’s website.
Deep geothermal’s potential
Houde, a speaker at TEDX Boston, explained why deep geothermal has so much potential:
The total energy content of the heat stored underground exceeds our annual energy demand as a planet by a factor of a billion. So tapping into a fraction of that is more than enough to meet our energy needs for the foreseeable future.
But we can’t yet drill deep enough to unlock that energy. Houde continued:
If we can get to 10 miles down, we can start to find economic temperatures everywhere. And if we go even deeper, we can get to temperatures where water [pumped to the site] becomes supercritical, [a steam-like phase that will allow] a step change improvement in the power production per well and so cheapen the cost of energy.
The deepest hole that’s been drilled to date, the Kola borehole in Russia, is 7.6 miles deep. It took 20 years to complete because conventional equipment like mechanical drill bits break down at those depths.
“And the truth is, we’ll need hundreds if not thousands of Kola boreholes if we want to scale geothermal to the capacity that’s needed,” Houde said. He went on to assert that Quaise:
[I]s developing technology to blast rock with microwaves to potentially drill the deepest holes on Earth. And no, I’m not stealing a plot device from Star Trek. This technology is real and has been proven in [an MIT] lab.
Deep geothermal’s possibility
Houde explained the benefits of deep geothermal energy in general. These include being available 24/7, which “can help balance out the intermittent flows of wind and [solar].” Deep geothermal plants also won’t need much land. Houde illustrated this with an artist’s rendition of a future rig next to truck shipping containers (see main photo).
Houde also said that deep geothermal is “the perfect energy source to take advantage of the largest workforce in the world, the oil and gas industry.” That industry has “11 million jobs in the US alone, and a skill set that is exactly what’s needed for geothermal to rapidly scale.”
Drilling with microwaves
Quaise is working to replace conventional drill bits with millimeter wave energy – cousins to the conventional microwaves we heat up our leftovers with. Those millimeter waves literally melt then vaporize the rock to create ever-deeper holes.
Scientists developed the general technique at MIT over the last 15 years, and proved that millimeter waves could actually drill a hole in basalt. The gyrotron machine that produces the millimeter wave energy has been used for around 70 years in nuclear fusion research.
Quaise’s technique also uses conventional drilling technologies developed by the oil and gas industry. The company will use these to drill down through surface layers – what they were optimized for – to basement rock – which millimeter waves can easily power through.
Houde explained that millimeter waves “are ideal for the hard, hot, crystalline rock deep down that conventional drilling struggles with.” They’re not as efficient in the softer rock closer to the surface, but “those are the same formations that conventional drilling excels at.” That’s why Quaise applies a hybrid approach to the problem.
Challenges remain
There are still several challenges that Quaise has to tackle in order to scale its technology, including a better understanding of rock properties at great depths. Further, Houde said, “we need to advance the supply chain for gyrotrons” and the waveguides that carry their energy downhole. That equipment is currently optimized for specialized one-off projects in fusion research. For deep geothermal applications, they must be produced in quantity and be robust and reliable in a field environment.
There are also engineering challenges that must be addressed. Houde said:
Chief among them is, how do we ensure full removal of the ash [created by the process] and transport that ash up the borehole over long distances?
Progress so far
In the MIT lab, engineers drilled a hole in basalt with a 1:1 aspect ratio – 2 inches deep by 2 inches in diameter. Quaise built upon MIT’s results by scaling up the power density of the microwave beam and the depth of the hole by a factor of 10 to achieve a 10:1 aspect ratio. The company is now building the first field-deployable prototype millimeter-wave drilling rigs.
Houde said:
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.
Image: Hector Vargas/Quaise Energy
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Chinese carmaker XPeng is getting perilously close to bringing its AeroHT consumer eVTOL concept to market, thanks to a $250 million Series B round that’s set to accelerate the company’s modular “flying car” production plans.
XPeng subsidiary AeroHT had its first successful proof of concept test flight ahead of the brand’s annual 1024 back in 2023, where the company unveiled a pair of flying car designs. The X3 is an actual flying “car” that can drive, park, and take off on its own, and a second, modular eVTOL that folds up into the back of an electric van called the Land Aircraft Carrier.
That vehicle pair, shown at CES in January, was set to begin production this year, with the eVTOL component set to begin production in 2026 – and that’s looking a lot more likely thanks to the new infusion of capital!
AeroHT at CES 2025
Xpeng Aeroht raised $150 million in Series B1 funding last August, before launching its Series B2 funding round. The most recent announcement that the company has secured an additional $100 million in its Series B2 funding round brings the total amount raised to more than $750 million, with a $1B pre-revenue valuation.
Scooter Doll said it best, writing, “this footage (of the AeroHT test flight) is as scary and concerning as it is exciting and awe-inspiring.” Which is to say that these things are real, they seem like they’re getting built, and they seem like they’ll sell well enough to convince at least one or two remaining boomers that the flying car they’ve been promised their whole lives is – finally! – coming to market.
Here’s hoping.
SOURCE: Xpeng, via CNEVPost; gallery photos by the author.
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Flooring manufacturer Beauflor USA just turned on the biggest rooftop solar system by capacity in metro Atlanta — and it’s now powering part of its Georgia factory.
The new 1,040 kW system in Cartersville officially beats metro Atlanta’s previous rooftop solar record of 1,034 kW. The new array produces enough energy to power more than 100 homes. The system is expected to cover about 10% of Beauflor’s electricity needs and cut its carbon emissions by about 920 metric tons annually.
“This solar installation represents our commitment to sustainable manufacturing practices while making sound business decisions,” said Emile Coopman, continuous improvement manager at Beauflor. He added that the system is designed with room to grow: “This is the first step toward more renewable energy.”
The company partnered with Cherry Street Energy to install the nearly 2,000-panel system, which was completed in less than four months. Cherry Street invested $1.8 million into the project and is covering all construction and maintenance costs through a 30-year energy procurement agreement. Beauflor will buy solar power directly from Cherry Street, allowing it to avoid upfront capital costs while still lowering its energy bills.
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“As Georgia’s manufacturers ramp up production amid rising costs for grid energy, sophisticated operators seek ways to quickly and sustainably address their energy needs,” said Cherry Street CEO Michael Chanin. “On-site solar with no capital expense delivers just that: reliable, affordable electricity.”
Chanin added that the system’s power output is especially impressive: “The previous record-holder for metro Atlanta’s largest rooftop solar required over 4,000 panels. We’re using less than 2,000 to reliably generate even more power.”
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Jack Dorsey, co-founder and chief executive officer of Twitter Inc. and Square Inc., listens during the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami, Florida, on Friday, June 4, 2021.
Eva Marie Uzcategui | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Block shares jumped more than 10% in extended trading on Friday, as the fintech company gets set to join the S&P 500, replacing Hess.
It’s the second change to the benchmark this week, after S&P Global announced on Monday that ad-tech firm The Trade Desk would be added to the S&P 500. Trade Desk is taking the place of software maker Ansys, which was acquired by Synopsys in a deal that closed Thursday.
Hess’ departure comes just after Chevron completed its $54 billion purchase of the oil producer, prevailing against Exxon Mobil in a legal dispute over offshore oil assets in the South American nation of Guyana.
Block will officially join the S&P 500 before the opening of trading on July 23, according to a statement from S&P. Stocks often rally when they’re added to a major index, as fund managers need to rebalance their portfolios to reflect the changes.
Most alterations to the S&P 500 take place during the index’s quarterly rebalancing. However, in the case of the closing of an acquisition, a company can be removed from the index and replaced off schedule. Last week monitoring software company Datadog took Juniper Networks’ place in the S&P 500 as part of the index’s quarterly change.
Block’s addition brings further tech heft to an index that’s been steadily moving in that direction in recent years, reflecting the market cap gains of companies across the sector. Block, which gained popularity as Square due to the rapid growth of the company’s payment terminals, has expanded into crypto, lending and other financial services.
Founded by Jack Dorsey in 2009, Square changed its name to Block in 2021 to emphasize its focus on blockchain technologies.
Block shares are down 14% this year, underperforming the broader U.S. market. The Nasdaq is up more than 8%, while the S&P 500 has gained 7%. Still, with a market cap of about $45 billion, Block is valued well above the median company in the index.
In May, Block reported first-quarter results that missed Wall Street expectations on Thursday and issued a disappointing outlook, leading to a plunge in the stock price. Block’s forecast for the second quarter and full year reflected challenging economic conditions that followed sweeping tariff announcements by President Donald Trump.
“We recognize we are operating in a more dynamic macro environment, so we have reflected a more cautious stance on the macro outlook into our guidance for the rest of the year,” the company wrote in its quarterly report.
The company is scheduled to report second-quarter results after the close of regular trading on Aug. 7.