There is a future where the electricity grid no longer fears extreme events, and clean energy flows freely beneath our feet. It is the concrete vision of EarthGrid, the startup that with its robots wants to create a real "underground revolution" to revolutionize the way we transmit energy and data.
The global electricity grid is at a crossroads
On the one hand, the obsolescence of infrastructure; on the other, the urgent need to integrate renewable energy sources in response to constantly growing demand. The transition towards electrification, driven above all by the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), and extreme weather conditions are putting a strain on a system already at the limit of its capabilities. The key to solving these problems could be to bet everything, absolutely everything, on serious underground wiring. Something similar to large sewer networks, with much more robust systems and formats than current ones. Conventional techniques involve long excavation periods and high costs, making the process impractical on a large scale. But EarthGrid promises to be a game changer.
An underground super electricity grid
EarthGrid has developed a system, the Plasma Trenching System, which uses a plasma robot powered by renewable energy to dig into hard rock at speed up to 600 meters per day, an amount exponentially higher than traditional methods, and at a fraction of the cost. EarthGrid's innovation doesn't stop at simply building tunnels: the startup wants to use its plasma robots to create underground super networks that incorporate everything. All what? Everything Everything. Energy transmission, ultra-high-speed internet, water pipelines, sewer pipelines and even delivery services.
Is this how "utilities" will move in the future of the planet? Someone seriously believes it: the startup has obtained the status of Utility and the Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity in 34 American states, and raised almost $50 million (47 million euros) in funding.
A clear vision
I'll be honest: the approach that combines technological innovation and environmental sensitivity, reducing timescales and compacting multiple systems into a single "highway" underground convinces me. More than that, as the late Guido Nicheli would have said in a popular gag: it exalts me. It could not only solve the problems of an aging electricity grid, but also open up new possibilities for the distribution of essential services.
While waiting to see how this technology will develop and be implemented, the dream of a more sustainable and interconnected world continues.
