not with drills, but with lasers.
Quaise does not describe its drilling technology as lasers. Its own materials say it uses high-power millimeter waves/microwaves, and its planned drilling method is a hybrid that still uses conventional drilling in sedimentary rock.
Full reasoning
Quaise’s published technical description does not say it drills with lasers.
- On its own site, Quaise says its method uses millimeter waves (MMWs), which it describes as a part of the electromagnetic spectrum "between microwaves and infrared." It adds that the company is building "a hybrid approach": "traditional drilling in the sedimentary layer followed by MMW drilling in the basement layer."
- MIT’s Energy Initiative describes the same system as using "high-frequency microwaves to melt rock."
So the article’s wording is inaccurate in two ways:
- The energy source is misnamed — Quaise describes it as millimeter waves / microwaves, not lasers.
- The process is overstated as drill-free — Quaise says its fielded approach still includes traditional drilling for the upper sedimentary layer.
That makes "not with drills, but with lasers" a misleading description of the company’s actual technology.
2 sources
- Millimeter Wave Drilling: The Key to Clean Energy Abundance | Quaise Energy
"This is why we are building a hybrid approach at Quaise: traditional drilling in the sedimentary layer followed by MMW drilling in the basement layer..." The article also explains that MMWs are part of the spectrum "between microwaves and infrared."
- MITEI spinout Quaise Energy successfully demonstrates their geothermal energy drilling technology in the field | MIT Energy Initiative
MIT says Quaise "wants to repurpose coal power plants into deep geothermal wells by using high-frequency microwaves to melt rock."