Drilling into the future
Pulsed power drilling to unlock the enormous potential
of geothermal energy
G-Pulse’s pulsed-power drilling technology is designed to give the world affordable access to the almost limitless potential of geothermal energy.
While the Earth’s subsurface contains enough heat to meet all global electricity needs, geothermal energy currently accounts for less than 1% of the world’s installed power generation capacity. This is because conventional geothermal technology relies on naturally occurring thermal fluid resources, which are limited to very specific locations. However, significantly reducing drilling costs could make next-generation geothermal power plants viable. These plants would create heat exchangers deep underground, injecting and heating water to generate power. This new technology removes the geological limitations and drastically expands geothermal potential. Geothermal resources could potentially provide 50% of power needs at depths up to 3 kilometers and five times that at 5 kilometers.
G-Pulse combines high pulsed power with conventional drilling to break up and soften hard rock before it contacts the drill. This increases drilling speed, extends the drill bits lifetime, and reduces the drilling cost per kilometer by a factor of three or more.
G-Pulse management team
He most recently served as Japan’s Vice Minister for International Affairs at the Ministry of the Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) since June 2016. He held numerous management positions in trade, energy and industrial policy at METI since joining in 1982. During his time at METI, Mr. Katase served in multiple Director General positions, including for the Industrial Science and Technology Policy Bureau, Environment Bureau and Trade Policy Bureau, where he led efforts that contributed to the signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, among other international agreements.
Previously, he had been leading R&D and simulations teams for 12 years regarding Bmax applications, a subsidiary of I-Pulse dealing with high velocity impact forming and welding. Before joining I-Pulse, Dr. Avrillaud was Chief Scientist at International Technologies for High Pulsed Power (ITHPP), a private French company focused on developing HPP technologies for defense applications. He was awarded a mechanical engineering diploma and a PhD in plasma physics on HPP for high power x-rays (Zpinch).
A member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ Technical Committee for Pulsed Power Science, Nuclear & Plasma Science Society, Dr. Curry holds 20 patents and has authored/co-authored over 151 research papers. Dr. Curry established the University of Missouri-Columbia’s Center for Physical and Power Electronics and served as its director.
Dr. Curry founded NanoElectromagnetics and has worked with Tetra Corp., TITAN/Pulse Sciences Inc. and Power Spectra Inc.
Dr. Curry holds a Ph.D. in Applied Physics from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. He has a M.Sc. and B.Sc. from Texas Tech University.