This US Company Carries Out The Deepest Drilling To The Earth's Crust

US company to drill deep into the Earth's crust (NASA)

JAKARTA – The use of fossil energy is starting to be abandoned, now countries in the world are choosing renewable energy which is considered environmentally friendly. One company from the United States (US) Quaise plans to utilize geothermal energy for human needs.

Quaise's ambition is to dig the deepest hole in the earth's crust. This is intended so that companies can release "unlimited energy" which is considered more environmentally friendly. While other companies focused on wind and solar power, Quaise turned its attention to geothermal energy.

Reporting from Science Alert, geothermal has become a "forgotten renewable energy" because some places with hot rock suitable for extraction are quite close to the earth's surface.

To get the geothermal energy, Quaise chose to use the conventional method, namely drilling. The company claims the move could make geothermal energy more accessible for everyone.

“Deep geothermal energy is at the core of an energy-independent world. Our mission is to bring this inexhaustible, renewable source of clean energy to future generations. This is the profound power of the inner geothermal heat. We open energy for all," the company wrote on its official website.

To fulfill its ambitions, Quaise will deploy “the first full-scale hybrid drilling rig” that will combine “conventional rotary drilling and millimeter wave drilling capabilities.” Drilling is planned to start in 2024.

Two years later Quaise will launch a geothermal system upgraded to "superheat". This will produce 100 MW of power. Then in 2028, the global community will be able to see “the first fossil-fuel power plant revived with clean hot steam.”

Quaise CEO and co-founder Carlos Araque told New Atlas that this is a workable solution for “95 percent of humanity.” When asked whether the method of taking geothermal energy will exacerbate global warming or not.

“Earth is already leaking 40 TW from the inside, whether we exist or not. Humanity uses 20 TW, so no, [there's no risk the heat released from beneath the surface will contribute to global warming]," Araque told New Atlas.

“And while it may be easier and cheaper to simply access geothermal sources closer to the surface, the problem is that they are not enough to “power the civilization we have created with fossil fuels,” he added.

Currently, the deepest hole humans have ever dug is about 12.3 kilometers (7.6 miles). According to Quaise, its hybrid drilling rig will be able to drill up to 12.4 miles (about 20 kilometers) in just 100 days, as reported by Sputnik News.