34 MAY 2023 WorldWide Drilling Resource® Panel Discusses Geothermal Energy at Climate Tech Summit Adapted from Information by Science Communications Carlos Araque, cofounder and CEO of Quaise Energy, expressed optimism during a panel discussion titled, “Is this geothermal’s moment?” He believes geothermal energy has potential to become the workhorse of the energy transition as it grows from supplying just 0.4% of the world’s energy today to upward of 20, 30, or even 50% by 2050. Araque presented ideas at the SOSV Climate Tech Summit held in October 2022. He was joined by Kathy Hannun, cofounder and president of Dandelion Energy, a firm using geothermal energy to heat and cool residential homes. The Dandelion process uses established technology which doesn’t require such deep drilling. “I didn’t know much about geothermal until I started diving into [it] for this panel,” said Moderator Candice Ammori, founder of The Climate Vine, which advises climate tech startups. “I’m excited to say now that I’m a believer in geothermal. I think there’s a fair amount of hype . . . but I actually think that there probably should be more hype.” Araque and Hannun described the greatest barriers to scaling up their businesses for the world, along with other geothermal problems they are “itching for people to solve.” They began by discussing how geothermal could be a crucial and consistent baseload energy source. It’s also “the most powerful and abundant renewable on earth,” said Araque. He explained it’s important to weigh an energy source by its impact on externalities like the environment, land use, and mineral use. Quaise is developing a unique drilling technique to reach hot rock located 2 to 12 miles beneath the earth’s surface. To fully tap the resource, however, will be very capital intensive and time intensive. “It’s very hard to achieve anything in our space with a million dollars or even $10 million,” said Araque. “You have to start playing at the $100 million level or even $1 billion level. This is what it costs to get [deep geothermal] developed and deployed at portfolio levels.” Further, the Quaise technology involved in deep drilling has been demonstrated in the lab, but not yet in the field; and that will take time. By the end of the decade, Quaise aims to create power from a coal- or gas-fired power plant which has been converted to geothermal. “You feed in geothermal steam instead of steam from a fossil-fuel boiler. That in a brushstroke decarbonizes the power plant, and you can repeat that 10,000 times over with other plants.” The key to making deep geothermal a reality? “You leverage the [gas and oil] industry,” said Araque, who himself comes from that industry. “I think of them as a ready-made workforce, supply chain, and regulatory framework that can push this into the world at the scale that’s required.” Hannun noted for Dandelion, simplifying the process will be key to bringing down costs associated with using geothermal for heating and cooling of residential homes. “It’s hard to advance our building stock and change all of the buildings that already exist [to geothermal because] they’re all slightly different and there’s a lot of complexity to manage. So a lot of our focus is on making geothermal [heat pumps] as simple to get into homes as it is to install a furnace or air conditioner.” Ammori ended the session by asking Hannun and Araque about remaining geothermal challenges other entrepreneurs could tackle. Both agreed better imaging systems to “see” underground are important. For deep geothermal, Araque added there’s a need for electronics that can withstand high temperatures associated with the resource. Hannun noted anything related to weatherizing homes will help the geothermal heating and cooling industry. “I would encourage entrepreneurs not to just look at the central core technology, but also the enabling technologies, products, or businesses around permitting, licensing, and transmission. There are [many] things in the ecosystem that need to happen to enable scale,” Hannun stated. Araque concluded by saying the energy transition itself is an unsolved problem. “Don’t for a second think that it’s just a matter of scaling what we have. There’s plenty of space for innovation . . .” Venture capital firm SOSV, based in Princeton, New Jersey, created the Climate Tech Summit, which took place for the first time in October 2021. The event brings together thousands of international attendees to listen to the world’s top founders and investors in climate technology. GEO WOW, IT WORKED! NOW, DON’T BUY OUR NEW SHARK REAMER 618-439-4042 infinitytoolmfg.com For more information call: (270) 786-3010 or visit us online: www.geothermalsupply.com All New! Atlantis-Pro Vault • Traffic-Rated Capable • Simple installation • Trouble-free operation
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