Geothermal Direct Use and Its Contribution to CO2 Emission Saving in China

Abstract

Geothermal energy utilization in China will reach 117,224 GWh/yr in 2010 and 351,672 GWh/yr in 2020, according to the Mid-Long Term Development Plan for Renewable Energy released by the National Development and Reform Commission in 2007. China has a long history of geothermal direct use, which has been developed rapidly since the 1990s. China has been atop of the list of countries utilizing geothermal energy with direct use of 12,605 GWh/yr in 2005 and 18,900 GWh/yr in 2007. China has rich medium-low temperature geothermal resources, and currently, about 3,000 geothermal wells have been completed to provide more than 445.7 Mm3 of hot water for direct use. This is comprised of 65.2% balneology, 18.0% space heating, 9.1% agriculture and aquaculture, and 7.7% industrial applications (evaporating, drying, distillation, sterilization, washing, de-icing, salt-extraction, oil-recovery, milk pasteurization, leather industry, chemical extraction, etc.). In this paper, some new technologies are discussed, CO2 emission savings by geothermal direct use are analyzed, and the direct use of geothermal heat is introduced in large cities such as Beijing, Tianjin and Shenyang.