The Geothermal Distribution and Development Mode in China

Xiaorong, Gao
Geothermal development department, SINOPEC Star Petroleum Co., Ltd., Beijing, China.

With the industrial development, China will require 50 to 70 million tons of coal in Mid-21st century. If energy-saving and environmental protection measures have not been taken yet, the resources will be in short supply, and the environment will be seriously deteriorating. It requires actively to develop low-carbon energy, in which the geothermal resources is available for development and utilization of energy. The conventional geothermal resource is rich in China. According to statistics, geothermal energy in depth of 2000 meters is equivalent to 250 billion tons of standard coal. At present,according tu the current condition the Development by the standard, the annual development and utilization of underground hot water is about 6.845 billion cubic meters, in which the total amount of heat energy goes to 33 million tons of standard coal.

From the tectonic background, China is located in the southeastern part In geological formations, which is adjacent to the Eurasian plate in northwest and to the Pacific plate in east. The whole formation of geothermal resources in China has been determined by it's unique tectonic position and modern plate movement, geothermal resources in China can be divided into three types according to their properties: (1)High-temperature convective geothermal resources (> 150 Celsius degree), these resources are mainly distributed in southwest China . (2) The mid- temperature (90-150 Celsius degree), low- temperature (<90 Celsius degree) convective geothermal resources, mainly in southern China . (3) The mid and low-temperature conduction geothermal resources, the distribution of such resources in northern China .

Different geothermal resources with market demands adopt different development model. For the high-temperature geothermal resources district, mainly in southwest China, it mainly used geothermal power generation development model. For the mid and low-temperature geothermal resources district in southern China , the weather is very hot in summer, and warm in winter, so the geothermal water as a heat source drives the refrigerator for cooling in summer. The weather is cold in winter in Northern China, the main heating form is geothermal water. Geothermal resource development should adopt different development models depending on the distribution of geothermal resource and market demands, to achieve efficient utilization of geothermal resources and the green low-carbon energy development strategy.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90155©2012 AAPG International Conference & Exhibition, Singapore, 16-19 September 2012