China's geothermal resources account for about one-sixth of the world——
The geothermal industry has entered a period of rapid development
Reporter Wang Yichen
At the recently held 2023 World Geothermal Conference, China released the national keynote report on geothermal energy for the first time - "Report on the High-quality Development of China's Geothermal Industry". The report pointed out that under the strong effect of clean heating demand, China has gradually formed a geothermal development path based on heating (cooling), which provides new ideas for international geothermal development. By the end of 2021, China's geothermal heating (cooling) capacity reached 13.3 billion square meters. In the next few years, geothermal clean heating in northern China, geothermal heating (cooling) in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and geothermal power generation in and around the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau will remain hot spots for industrial development.
Geothermal is a kind of renewable energy, which has many advantages such as large resources, high energy utilization efficiency, and good energy conservation and emission reduction effects, and has a first-mover advantage in the context of energy transformation. In the future, as the global carbon emission reduction situation becomes more and more serious, geothermal power generation will have broad prospects.
From a global perspective, geothermal energy is entering a new round of rapid development. Ren Jingdong, deputy director of the National Energy Administration, said that the Energy Administration will continue to support the development of renewable energy industries such as geothermal and contribute to China's efforts to promote the low-carbon energy transformation and the green recovery of the world economy.
China is rich in geothermal resources, accounting for about one-sixth of the world's geothermal resources, and has great potential for development and utilization. The development of geothermal industry is not only of great significance for adjusting the energy structure, energy conservation and emission reduction, and improving the environment, but also has a significant driving effect on cultivating emerging industries, driving the localization of related equipment manufacturing and the development of engineering technology business, and is an important measure to build ecological civilization and achieve green development.
China's direct use of geothermal energy has ranked first in the world for many years, providing support for the high-quality development of the geothermal industry. According to data released by the 2021 World Geothermal Conference, in 2020, China's installed capacity of geothermal direct utilization accounted for 37.7% of the world. In recent years, the scale of China's medium and deep hydrothermal geothermal energy heating utilization has continued to expand, playing an important role in clean heating and air pollution prevention and control in the north, and has become an important member of the renewable energy family. Choosing China as the host of this conference will surely contribute more Chinese wisdom and strength to the clean and low-carbon development of global energy.
Grimsson, chairman of the Arctic Forum and former President of Iceland, said that the World Geothermal Congress is a milestone in the history of the geothermal industry, demonstrating China's leading position in the global geothermal industry. At present, China is already a global leader in renewable energy, and now it is adding geothermal energy to this category. As long as countries around the world join hands and strengthen cooperation, it will surely promote the better development of global geothermal energy.
Zou Cai, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, believes that actively and steadily promoting carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, and deeply promoting the process of energy revolution, the high-quality development of the geothermal industry is an inevitable trend and an inevitable choice. The geothermal industry is an important part of China's future energy system, the oil and gas industry has an innate advantage in the development of geothermal energy, PetroChina "2500th Five-Year Plan" focused on the layout of Northeast Energy Replacement Demonstration Zone, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Clean Heating Demonstration Zone, Yangtze River Delta Heating and Refrigeration Demonstration Zone three demonstration areas. Last year, 4000 million square meters of medium and shallow geothermal heat have been developed, and it is expected to exceed <> million square meters this year.
Sinopec has successfully built China's first geothermal heating "smoke-free city" in Xiongxian County, Hebei Province, combined geothermal technology research and development with production practice, created the world's first geothermal heating CDM methodology, and innovatively formed six core technology systems integrating geothermal exploration and other technologies, filling the domestic gap. At present, Sinopec has one key laboratory for the development and utilization of geothermal resources, more than 1 technical patents, and its geothermal business has radiated to more than 130 cities in 11 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities), of which 60 cities have a geothermal heating capacity of more than one million square meters, and it is expected that Sinopec's geothermal heating capacity will exceed 22 million square meters by the end of this year, ushering in major progress. (Economic Daily)