Quaise Energy
50Mixed / Improving· ProvisionalMIT spinout developing superhot rock geothermal energy by using high-power millimeter-wave beams to vaporize rock at extreme depths, with a flagship 50 MW Project Obsidian planned in Oregon.
Why it's on ClimateTicker
Quaise Energy is developing a genuinely transformative deep geothermal technology — MIT-derived millimeter-wave rock vaporization — that could unlock zero-carbon baseload power nearly anywhere on Earth, displacing fossil fuel plants rather than merely supplementing intermittent renewables. The core physics and early field results (100+ meters of granite drilled in field conditions, approaching 1 km at Texas test site) provide real technical substance to the climate thesis. However, the company remains pre-revenue, the flagship Project Obsidian is targeting a 2030 commercial operation date, and almost no formal ESG governance infrastructure (SBTi, CDP, third-party audits) exists — so the climate promise is real but unverified at scale.
Controversy & Greenwashing Watch
Project Obsidian's enhanced geothermal system design involves fluid injection into fractured hot rock, a technique that carries a sector-wide, scientifically documented risk of induced seismicity including potential reactivation of dormant fault systems, which has terminated EGS projects elsewhere (e.g., Basel, Pohang); Quaise has not publicly disclosed a site-specific seismic risk management protocol.source ↗
Quaise accepted investment from Nabors Energy Transition Ventures (an arm of oil-and-gas drilling contractor Nabors Industries) and counts TechEnergy Ventures (Tecpetrol/Techint Group) among its backers, creating a latent conflict-of-interest risk if fossil-fuel parent interests were to influence technology deployment priorities, though no such influence has been documented.source ↗
Quaise's 2022 Series A materials targeted field-deployable drilling machines by 2024, yet first commercial plant operation remains targeted for 2030 and millimeter-wave drilling at Project Obsidian will not begin until at least 2027, indicating meaningful schedule compression relative to early public projections, though this is typical for deep-tech hardware startups.source ↗
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