Startup Series: Quaise Energy

Today's guest is Carlos Araque, co-founder and CEO of Quaise Energy. Quaise is seeking to unlock the power of geothermal energy by drilling into deeper and hotter parts of the earth than ever, using microwave-based technology rather than traditional mechanical drill bits.

Carlos has a fascinating background; he grew up in Medellin, Colombia, during the turbulent 1980s and 1990s, matriculated to MIT, and then found himself working in oil and gas for a while before transitioning to geothermal and Quaise. In this episode, Carlos walks us through how geothermal energy is harnessed today and what has held it back from a scale perspective. He also offers a unique futurist point of view that there are only three forms of energy that have the potential to offer abundant clean energy to humanity at scale on a multi-decade or century-scale timeframe: fission, fusion, and deep geothermal. From his perspective, the energy density profiles of wind and solar relative to their land use requirements will eventually cause them to hit limitations.

If you’re curious about geothermal but need a primer on how it works, this one eases into the topic by going into the state of geothermal today, then spending some time on Quaise's tech solution and business model. We conclude by getting Carlos' take on the future of energy. Enjoy the show! 

In this episode, we cover: 

• [2:50] Carlos' background and serendipitous path to starting Quaise
• [9:22] How Carlos became interested in geothermal and his thoughts on the three solutions for deploying clean energy at scale
• [14:25] An overview of geothermal
• [18:04] Different use cases and geothermal's potential
• [21:37] Tthe different types of geothermal, including hydrothermal and EGS systems
• [23:32] What's holding geothermal back today
• [25:40] Quaise's approach
• [29:55] How Quaise repurposes oil and gas capabilities to deploy their different technology
• [35:28] Core assumptions the company is working towards in the lab
• [38:37] Challenges associated with scaling
• [40:58] The role of regulation
• [45:37] Quaise's business model
• [48:37] How Carlos evaluates risks associated with his business
• [52:44] Geographic footprint required for other forms of renewable energy
• [55:01] Where new skills are needed from a talent perspective
• [57:01] What's next for Quaise and where they need help

Get connected:
Cody Twitter / LinkedIn
Carlos LinkedIn / Quaise
MCJ Podcast / Collective

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Episode recorded on January 6, 2023. 

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant