IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/juipol/v64y2020ics0957178720300151.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Geothermal energy in China: Status, challenges, and policy recommendations

Author

Listed:
  • Wang, Yuqing
  • Liu, Yingxin
  • Dou, Jinyue
  • Li, Mingzhu
  • Zeng, Ming

Abstract

As a clean, renewable energy source with low carbon content, geothermal energy has the advantages of wide resource availability coverage, low environmental impact, low operating costs, and high reliability. For the development and production of more sustainable energy, geothermal energy has become one of the key areas of development in many countries. Geothermal resources are abundant in China and mainly distributed in the eastern region where the energy demand is the highest; therefore, the resources have the advantage of local development and consumption, which can alleviate the mismatch between resource distribution and demand in China's eastern and western regions. However, the development of geothermal energy started relatively late in China and has confronted many difficulties. This paper summarizes the status of geothermal energy in China and analyzes the existing problems with respect to policies and regulations, technological development, financial investment, and environmental protection. Some policy recommendations are put forward for promoting geothermal energy in China. This paper argues that the period of the “13th Five-Year Plan” is the opportunity for geothermal energy development. With the attention increasing, a series of policies to promote the development and utilization of geothermal energy could be introduced, and this resource could experience scaled development in China.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Yuqing & Liu, Yingxin & Dou, Jinyue & Li, Mingzhu & Zeng, Ming, 2020. "Geothermal energy in China: Status, challenges, and policy recommendations," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:juipol:v:64:y:2020:i:c:s0957178720300151
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jup.2020.101020
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0957178720300151
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jup.2020.101020?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pellizzone, Anna & Allansdottir, Agnes & De Franco, Roberto & Muttoni, Giovanni & Manzella, Adele, 2015. "Exploring public engagement with geothermal energy in southern Italy: A case study," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 1-11.
    2. Lu, Shyi-Min, 2018. "A global review of enhanced geothermal system (EGS)," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P2), pages 2902-2921.
    3. Giambastiani, B.M.S. & Tinti, F. & Mendrinos, D. & Mastrocicco, M., 2014. "Energy performance strategies for the large scale introduction of geothermal energy in residential and industrial buildings: The GEO.POWER project," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 315-322.
    4. Thorsten Agemar & Josef Weber & Rüdiger Schulz, 2014. "Deep Geothermal Energy Production in Germany," Energies, MDPI, vol. 7(7), pages 1-20, July.
    5. Kubota, Hiromi & Hondo, Hiroki & Hienuki, Shunichi & Kaieda, Hideshi, 2013. "Determining barriers to developing geothermal power generation in Japan: Societal acceptance by stakeholders involved in hot springs," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 1079-1087.
    6. Hähnlein, Stefanie & Bayer, Peter & Ferguson, Grant & Blum, Philipp, 2013. "Sustainability and policy for the thermal use of shallow geothermal energy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 914-925.
    7. Keçebaş, Ali & Alkan, Mehmet Ali & Yabanova, İsmail & Yumurtacı, Mehmet, 2013. "Energetic and economic evaluations of geothermal district heating systems by using ANN," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 558-567.
    8. Lee Kwan, Calvin, 2010. "The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region: A major role in China's renewable energy future," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 46-52, March.
    9. Thorsteinsson, Hildigunnur H. & Tester, Jefferson W., 2010. "Barriers and enablers to geothermal district heating system development in the United States," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 803-813, February.
    10. Qingyou Yan & Chao Qin, 2017. "Environmental and Economic Benefit Analysis of an Integrated Heating System with Geothermal Energy—A Case Study in Xi’an China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-16, December.
    11. Purkus, Alexandra & Barth, Volker, 2011. "Geothermal power production in future electricity markets--A scenario analysis for Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 349-357, January.
    12. Yong Jiang & Yalin Lei & Li Li & Jianping Ge, 2016. "Mechanism of Fiscal and Taxation Policies in the Geothermal Industry in China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-20, September.
    13. Reber, Timothy J. & Beckers, Koenraad F. & Tester, Jefferson W., 2014. "The transformative potential of geothermal heating in the U.S. energy market: A regional study of New York and Pennsylvania," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 30-44.
    14. Schroeder, J.N. & Harto, C.B. & Clark, C.E., 2015. "Federal policy documentation and geothermal water consumption: Policy gaps and needs," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 58-68.
    15. Malafeh, Sam & Sharp, Basil, 2015. "Role of royalties in sustainable geothermal energy development," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 235-242.
    16. Apergis, Nicholas & Tsoumas, Chris, 2011. "Integration properties of disaggregated solar, geothermal and biomass energy consumption in the U.S," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(9), pages 5474-5479, September.
    17. John W. Lund, 2010. "Direct Utilization of Geothermal Energy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 3(8), pages 1-29, August.
    18. Shaopeng Huang, 2012. "Geothermal energy in China," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 2(8), pages 557-560, August.
    19. Mason, I.G. & Page, S.C. & Williamson, A.G., 2010. "A 100% renewable electricity generation system for New Zealand utilising hydro, wind, geothermal and biomass resources," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(8), pages 3973-3984, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhang, Dalin & Li, Xinyu & Jiang, Dianqiang & Zhou, Xingguang & Lv, Xindi & Yun, Shichang & Wu, Wenqiang & He, Xuanang & Li, Haoyang & Min, Xin & Chen, Kailong & Tian, Wenxi & Qiu, Suizheng & Su, G.H., 2024. "Fluoride-Salt-cooled high-Temperature Advanced Reactor (FuSTAR): An integrated nuclear-based energy production and conversion system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 290(C).
    2. Wang, Yongzhen & Li, Chengjun & Zhao, Jun & Wu, Boyuan & Du, Yanping & Zhang, Jing & Zhu, Yilin, 2021. "The above-ground strategies to approach the goal of geothermal power generation in China: State of art and future researches," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    3. Honglei Shi & Guiling Wang & Wei Zhang & Feng Ma & Wenjing Lin & Menglei Ji, 2023. "Predicting the Potential of China’s Geothermal Energy in Industrial Development and Carbon Emission Reduction," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-16, May.
    4. Sun, Yanwei & Li, Ying & Wang, Run & Ma, Renfeng, 2022. "Measuring dynamics of solar energy resource quality: Methodology and policy implications for reducing regional energy inequality," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 138-150.
    5. Wang, Zengli & Zhou, Hongyang & Hao, Muming & Wang, Jun & Geng, Maofei, 2022. "Thermodynamic analysis and comparative investigation of a novel total flow and Kalina cycle coupled system for fluctuating geothermal energy utilization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    6. Niu, Qinghe & Ma, Kaiyuan & Wang, Wei & Pan, Jienan & Wang, Qizhi & Du, Zhigang & Wang, Zhenzhi & Yuan, Wei & Zheng, Yongxiang & Shangguan, Shuantong & Qi, Xiaofei & Pan, Miaomiao & Ji, Zhongmin, 2023. "Multifactor analysis of heat extraction performance of coaxial heat exchanger applied to hot dry rock resources exploration: A case study in matouying uplift, Tangshan, China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    7. Reyes-Antonio, Claudio Antonio & Iglesias-Silva, Gustavo Arturo & Rubio-Maya, Carlos & Fuentes-Cortés, Luis Fabián, 2024. "Multi-objective design of off-grid low-enthalpy geothermal generation systems considering partial-load operations," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 294(C).
    8. Mahmoud G. Hemeida & Ashraf M. Hemeida & Tomonobu Senjyu & Dina Osheba, 2022. "Renewable Energy Resources Technologies and Life Cycle Assessment: Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-36, December.
    9. Yibo Wang & Lijuan Wang & Yang Bai & Zhuting Wang & Jie Hu & Di Hu & Yaqi Wang & Shengbiao Hu, 2021. "Assessment of Geothermal Resources in the North Jiangsu Basin, East China, Using Monte Carlo Simulation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-17, January.
    10. Aizhao Zhou & Xianwen Huang & Wei Wang & Pengming Jiang & Xinwei Li, 2021. "Thermo-Hydraulic Performance of U-Tube Borehole Heat Exchanger with Different Cross-Sections," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-20, March.
    11. Xiaoyan Zhang & Muyan Xu & Li Liu & Lang Liu & Mei Wang & Haiwei Ji & KI-IL Song, 2020. "The Concept, Technical System and Heat Transfer Analysis on Phase-Change Heat Storage Backfill for Exploitation of Geothermal Energy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-22, September.
    12. Dave Mangindaan & Emil Robert Kaburuan & Bayu Meindrawan, 2022. "Black Soldier Fly Larvae ( Hermetia illucens ) for Biodiesel and/or Animal Feed as a Solution for Waste-Food-Energy Nexus: Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-18, October.
    13. Xiaoyang Hou & Shuai Zhong & Jian’an Zhao, 2022. "A Critical Review on Decarbonizing Heating in China: Pathway Exploration for Technology with Multi-Sector Applications," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-23, February.
    14. Li, Ji & Xu, Wei & Li, Jianfeng & Huang, Shuai & Li, Zhao & Qiao, Biao & Yang, Chun & Sun, Deyu & Zhang, Guangqiu, 2021. "Heat extraction model and characteristics of coaxial deep borehole heat exchanger," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 738-751.
    15. Pei, Huafu & Song, Huaibo & Meng, Fanhua & Liu, Weiling, 2022. "Long-term thermomechanical displacement prediction of energy piles using machine learning techniques," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 620-636.
    16. Yu, Ruyang & Zhang, Kai & Ramasubramanian, Brindha & Jiang, Shu & Ramakrishna, Seeram & Tang, Yuhang, 2024. "Ensemble learning for predicting average thermal extraction load of a hydrothermal geothermal field: A case study in Guanzhong Basin, China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 296(C).
    17. Chengcheng Xiong & Mohd Sayuti Hassan, 2022. "Renewable Heat Policy in China: Development, Achievement, and Effectiveness," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-12, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nadkarni, Kabir & Lefsrud, Lianne M. & Schiffner, Daniel & Banks, Jonathan, 2022. "Converting oil wells to geothermal resources: Roadmaps and roadblocks for energy transformation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    2. Knoblauch, Theresa A.K. & Trutnevyte, Evelina & Stauffacher, Michael, 2019. "Siting deep geothermal energy: Acceptance of various risk and benefit scenarios in a Swiss-German cross-national study," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 807-816.
    3. Somogyi, Viola & Sebestyén, Viktor & Nagy, Georgina, 2017. "Scientific achievements and regulation of shallow geothermal systems in six European countries – A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 68(P2), pages 934-952.
    4. Abbas, Tauqeer & Ahmed Bazmi, Aqeel & Waheed Bhutto, Abdul & Zahedi, Gholamreza, 2014. "Greener energy: Issues and challenges for Pakistan-geothermal energy prospective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 258-269.
    5. Anderson, Austin & Rezaie, Behnaz, 2019. "Geothermal technology: Trends and potential role in a sustainable future," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 248(C), pages 18-34.
    6. Chen, Siyuan & Zhang, Qi & Li, Hailong & Mclellan, Benjamin & Zhang, Tiantian & Tan, Zhizhou, 2019. "Investment decision on shallow geothermal heating & cooling based on compound options model: A case study of China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(C).
    7. Olasolo, P. & Juárez, M.C. & Morales, M.P. & D´Amico, Sebastiano & Liarte, I.A., 2016. "Enhanced geothermal systems (EGS): A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 133-144.
    8. Liu, Jian & Cheng, Wen-Long & Nian, Yong-Le, 2018. "The stratigraphic and operating parameters influence on economic analysis for enhanced geothermal double wells utilization system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 264-276.
    9. Anand, R.S. & Li, Ang & Huang, Wenbo & Chen, Juanwen & Li, Zhibin & Ma, Qingshan & Jiang, Fangming, 2024. "Super-long gravity heat pipe for geothermal energy exploitation - A comprehensive review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    10. Bayer, Peter & Attard, Guillaume & Blum, Philipp & Menberg, Kathrin, 2019. "The geothermal potential of cities," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 17-30.
    11. Liliana Topliceanu & Gabriel Petru Puiu, 2016. "Contribution of Geothermal Resources to Energy Autonomy: Evaluation and Management Methodology," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-16, August.
    12. Bleicher, Alena & Gross, Matthias, 2016. "Geothermal heat pumps and the vagaries of subterranean geology: Energy independence at a household level as a real world experiment," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 279-288.
    13. Golmohamadi, Hessam & Larsen, Kim Guldstrand & Jensen, Peter Gjøl & Hasrat, Imran Riaz, 2022. "Integration of flexibility potentials of district heating systems into electricity markets: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    14. Wei-Tao Wu & Nadine Aubry & James F. Antaki & Mark L. McKoy & Mehrdad Massoudi, 2017. "Heat Transfer in a Drilling Fluid with Geothermal Applications," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-18, September.
    15. García-Gil, Alejandro & Goetzl, Gregor & Kłonowski, Maciej R. & Borovic, Staša & Boon, David P. & Abesser, Corinna & Janza, Mitja & Herms, Ignasi & Petitclerc, Estelle & Erlström, Mikael & Holecek, Ja, 2020. "Governance of shallow geothermal energy resources," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    16. Daniilidis, Alexandros & Alpsoy, Betül & Herber, Rien, 2017. "Impact of technical and economic uncertainties on the economic performance of a deep geothermal heat system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 114(PB), pages 805-816.
    17. Laveet Kumar & Md. Shouquat Hossain & Mamdouh El Haj Assad & Mansoor Urf Manoo, 2022. "Technological Advancements and Challenges of Geothermal Energy Systems: A Comprehensive Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-18, November.
    18. Francesco, Tinti & Annamaria, Pangallo & Martina, Berneschi & Dario, Tosoni & Dušan, Rajver & Simona, Pestotnik & Dalibor, Jovanović & Tomislav, Rudinica & Slavisa, Jelisić & Branko, Zlokapa & Attilio, 2016. "How to boost shallow geothermal energy exploitation in the adriatic area: the LEGEND project experience," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 190-204.
    19. Lu, Xinli & Zhao, Yangyang & Zhu, Jialing & Zhang, Wei, 2018. "Optimization and applicability of compound power cycles for enhanced geothermal systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 229(C), pages 128-141.
    20. Thomas Hermans & Frédéric Nguyen & Tanguy Robert & Andre Revil, 2014. "Geophysical Methods for Monitoring Temperature Changes in Shallow Low Enthalpy Geothermal Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 7(8), pages 1-36, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:juipol:v:64:y:2020:i:c:s0957178720300151. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/utilities-policy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.