Khosla-backed Mazama Energy just raised $135M to drill deeper into super-hot-rock geothermal
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Geothermal startup Mazama is drilling three miles underground to tap superhot rock, with one well capable of generating 15 MW of electricity 24/7.
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Based on the original story on techcrunch.com.
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Panel 1
Alex (excitedly) Sam (with a shrug) Robin (throwing a small rock)
Alex: We’re about to drill through superhot rock! Imagine the power we can generate – enough to light up a small city 24 hours a day!
Sam: Good for the electricity, but do we really need that much power in the middle of nowhere?
Robin: Oh, let’s just say the rock is super hot. Like, scorching hot, so hot you’d need a heat shield to survive near it.
Panel 2
Alex (proudly) Sam (nodding) Robin (shaking head)
Alex: And it’s not just any power – it’s green! No greenhouse gases, just renewable energy from the Earth’s core.
Sam: And it’s sustainable too. If the rock stays hot forever, we can keep generating power without running out.
Robin: Oh, the Earth’s core isn’t that hot. Just hot enough to make Alex’s face turn red whenever he mentions it.
Panel 3
Alex (still animated) Sam (sarcastically) Robin (laughing)
Alex: But seriously, Sam, think of all the communities we could power with this! We could even help the power grid during extreme weather events.
Sam: Great. Just great. We’re about to drill through superhot rock. Let’s hope the drill doesn’t get stuck in the scorching lava we forgot to mention.
Robin: Or worse, the drill just melts the rock, and we end up with a giant, superhot, molten rock sculpture in the middle of the desert.
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