The earth contains huge energy, but humans only use the energy on its surface.
Most of the energy used by humans is fossil energy , which was obtained by ancient organisms after a series of changes. In essence, it is still the energy on the surface of earth's crust.
However, the earth's energy is more concentrated beneath the earth's crust .
The many natural disasters we have experienced, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis etc., are the energy released inside the earth .
The scary thing is that it is just a little bit of energy released by the earth, just like turning over when sleeping.
The earth releases energy
Therefore, if humans can use the energy inside the earth, then we will completely get rid of the energy crisis.
In the last century, the Soviet Union took the lead in launching a plan to head toward the center of the earth, but it came to an abrupt end at about 10,000 meters.
At present, the three major drilling depths of mankind are: 12,345 meters in the Odoptu OP-11 oil well, 12,289 meters in the Ashohin oil well, , and 12,263 meters in the Kola borehole.
However, according to media reports, the American company Quaise Energy company is expected to break this record in the future and expand the depth to 0,000 meters , which is 0 kilometers !
Kola Drilling
The Power of Wave Drills
The reason why humans are stuck at the critical point of 2000 meters is because of the drill bit .
Take the Soviet geocentric project Kola borehole as an example. The last 63 meter was drilled for a full 10 years, from 1983 to 1993.
Because the deeper you drill, the density of rock becomes higher , and the friction between the drill bit and the rock formation becomes hotter and hotter, causing the drill bit to collapse.
What restricts the pace of human drilling is the quality of drill bits. No matter how innovative traditional metal drill bits are, they can only add to their original hardness.
Kola drilling drill bit
Therefore, the breakthrough value of drilling depth does not open a huge gap.
But Quaise Energy's drill bit is different. It does not use contact drilling , but uses wave .
The front end of the drill bit emits vibration waves , causing resonance between it and the rock. In this way, the temperature inside the rock will rise linearly , and finally the rock will be heated and melted . The principle of
is a bit like the microwave oven in our lives, which uses the vibration of waves to heat food, but this wave heats rocks . The advantage of the
drill bit is that will not produce loss and can be drilled all the time. The initial plan is to drill to a depth of 20 kilometers.
At present, Quaise Energy has received 0 million in funding , and they will soon start launching 's new geocentric plan .
So, what is the energy inside the earth?
The principle of wave drilling is a bit like that of a microwave oven
The structure of the earth
The earth is composed of three major parts, namely crust, mantle and core.
Among them, the earth's crust is the thinnest and least part of the earth, occupying only 1.55% of the earth's total volume and 0.8% of its total mass, similar to the earth's skin.
The average thickness of of the earth's crust is 17 kilometers . None of the various drilling depths in the past have broken through the scope of the earth's crust. Only Quaise Energy's 20 kilometers can be regarded as reaching the next level.
Crustal structure
Below the crust is the mantle . The mantle is the largest material in the entire earth. Its volume occupies 82.26% of the entire earth's volume , and its thickness reaches ,800 kilometers or more .
Because it is too thick, the mantle has different densities at different locations and the state is also different.
therefore it is divided into two layers of , .The density of the upper mantle is close to that of rock. There is an asthenosphere at the top of it, with a thickness of about 80 kilometers .
The asthenosphere can be regarded as molten state of rock , with a temperature of 00 to 1300℃, which is the birthplace of magma .
The asthenosphere has been ejected
20 kilometers away from the wave drill. It has not yet reached the asthenosphere. It is at the Moho interface , which is the boundary between the crust and the mantle. It reaches 70 kilometers below the ground. range, while the asthenosphere is located in the range of 0 to 250 km .
The deepest energy of the earth is the core, which is also the hottest and densest placeon the entire earth.
The maximum density of in the earth's core is 4 cubic centimeters 12.5 grams , the average density of is 0.3 grams/cubic centimeter , and the temperature is 000 to 6800℃.
Since humans have never been to the earth's core, we can only speculate that the elements with the most content in the earth's core should be iron, cobalt, and nickel . They are the main components of magnets, so the earth will produce a magnetic field .
The structure of the earth
As for the energy source of the earth's core, some people think it is nuclear fusion, because iron, cobalt, and nickel are exactly the limit of self-synthesized atoms , that is, elements 26 to 28th in the periodic table of elements .
Some scientists believe that it is nuclear fission . Because the earth's crust contains uranium, plutonium and other radioactive elements, there should be some inside the earth's core.
So, what energy does Quaise Energy want after drilling to 20 kilometers without penetrating into the mantle?
Uranium ore on the earth
"Infinite" energy
What Quaise Energy company wants is the earth's thermal energy , referred to as geothermal.
Going down from the surface, the temperature increases by 2℃ for every 100 meters of descent. Then 20 kilometers underground, the temperature reaches 00℃.
converts this thermal energy into electrical energy , which can replace the current thermal power generation .
According to scientists' calculations, the thermal energy of the entire earth exceeds 1 × 10^19 TJ. If calculated based on the earth's coal consumption of billion tons in 2018, the earth's thermal energy is enough for human use 2 billion .
The coal reserves in the earth's crust are only enough for human use for about 200 years..
Geothermal Power Station
It can be seen that the energy of the earth is " unlimited " to a certain extent.
Because the lifespan of the sun is not as long as 60 billion years, the sun currently has about billion years left.
In other words, the earth's thermal energy can last until the sun "explodes", isn't it considered "infinite"?
Therefore, the 20 kilometers of the wave drill is the key to opening the Moho interface , and it is also a crucial battle for whether humans can obtain more heat from the earth.
However, some scientists have pointed out that although the earth's energy is very large, the heat is also consumed very quickly.
The location of the Moho interface
The cooling of the earth's core
Since humans cannot enter the earth's core, not even the mantle, the true structure of the earth's core appears in the form of hypotheses. Scientists also hold different views on the source of the earth's core energy.
Some scientists believe that the core of the earth is a huge nuclear reactor . If it is nuclear fission reaction , then the radioactive element has time.
The earth has been around for about 44.6 billion years. According to the half-life of some elements, it will be completed in the next 2 billion years.
If the interior of the earth's core is nuclear fusion reaction , then according to the laws of natural synthesis of elements in the universe, iron, cobalt, and nickel are already the limits of fusion, and only a few can continue to synthesize under the harsh conditions of , and most This is where the atoms will end up.
The fiery core of the earth
The core of the earth gradually cools down after the completion of the reaction. The temperature of the earth's core drops sharply, and finally becomes the cold iron hard core.
Without the energy of the earth's core, the earth will begin to cool down, the earth's core will shrink , causing the earth's surface to collapse, and the earth will shrink.
Someone said that Mars is very likely to be what the earth's core looks like after it cools down.
Mars is believed to have been the same as the Earth in the past, with life and oceans .
More scientists believe that Mars had not formed an atmosphere and could not protect its own water, which led to the loss of water.
However, some scientists believe that in the past, Mars was and the Earth was about the same size as , but the core of Mars cooled before the Earth, causing Mars to shrink .
Mars surface
The most abundant element in the Martian soil is iron , and its red surface is shaped by iron oxide .
Why does Mars have so much iron?
Scientists believe that the core nuclear fusion of Mars reached its limit and could no longer continue to fuse.
Mars' core energy is gone without , and Mars' magnetic field, atmosphere, and water all cease to exist when collapses and contracts.
In the end, only a cold, dry red planet was left.
Dry and cold Mars
But even if the earth's core cools, there will still be about 2 billion years. For humans, this time is enough for our civilization to reach a higher dimension .
Physicist Michio Kaku once said that humans can reach level civilization after 100 to 200 years .
1 level civilization means that humans can use all the energy of the earth, which is the × 10^19 TJ thermal energy mentioned above.
After humans reach level 1 civilization, it will take 1000 to 2000 to become a level 12 civilization , that is, fully utilize the energy of the sun .
Dyson sphere
Human beings will build Dyson sphere to obtain all the energy of the sun, not just the solar energy received by the earth.
When humans reach the level civilization , the solar system is no longer worth mentioning to humans. The Milky Way is our home, and all stars are our " minerals ".
From to level 3 civilization humans need about 150,000 years .
Looking at it this way, 2 billion years is enough time to develop to the point of leaving the earth.
Future interstellar travel
If the wave drill can succeed, then this is the most important step for mankind to move towards a level 1 civilization.
