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Geothermal energy is a promising energy source, limited by factors such as the need for facilities to be located in areas where hot water reservoirs deep below the earth’s surface are easily accessible. Carlos Araque wants to change that through his company, Quaise, using groundbreaking technology developed at MIT.

“To make geothermal a truly global resource, we need to go deeper and warmer, so it’s no longer a matter of being close to a volcano, not being in Iceland or typical geothermal regions,” says Araque. But drilling underground to depths of two to 12 miles is expensive and time consuming. His company found a solution in research by Paul Woskov at the MIT Center for Plasma Science and Fusion. Instead of physical drill bits that wear out quickly and need to be replaced frequently, Woskov suggested using high-intensity 30 to 300 gigahertz microwaves from a device called a gyrotron. “It’s like the magnetron in your microwave oven, but much more powerful and efficient,” says Araque.

The idea is to dig into bedrock a mile or two beyond where oil and gas is usually found; then the gyrotron takes over. The hot vaporized rock is pushed back to the surface by pressurized gas. The water then flows in and out of the wells, collecting heat on the way and becoming the supercritical steam that drives the turbines. One advantage of the technique is that it mostly uses the well-established infrastructure of the oil, gas and thermal power industries.

Originally from Colombia, Araque studied mechanical engineering at MIT. He spent 15 years at Schlumberger, a provider of oilfield technology and services, before joining The Engine, the venture capital firm the Institute founded in 2016. When Woskov came up with the idea in 2018, famed venture capitalist Vinod Khosla suggested that Araque start a company: to offer funds “on the condition that I manage it”.

With $23 million in grants and startup funding, Quaise is working with the Department of Energy to scale up the technology to build a pilot plant in the western United States by 2024. To Araque’s surprise, he found support in the generally conservative oil and gas industry. “These companies [green] energy transition,” he says.

As the world transitions to cleaner energy, Araque is confident geothermal will play an important role. “We’re talking about terawatt potential — megawatts, not gigawatts, but terawatts,” he says. “But to make it happen, we need to embrace these very difficult technological initiatives. That’s exactly what we’re trying to do. We want to deliver the full potential of geothermal.”