Assessing High Temperature Geothermal Resource - An Economic and Environmental Perspective

Abstract

High-temperature geothermal energy is a renewable energy that can be used for generating electricity. In this study, the volumetric method was used to evaluate geothermal resources in combination with the geothermal resource investigation and the evaluation results were used to calculate the high-temperature geothermal resource potential in China, and the economic and environmental perspective of high-temperature geothermal resources were predicted. The results showed that high-temperature geothermal resources are very abundant in China, with total reserves of 10-20 billion tons (t) of standard coal; can produce economic benefits of 60 billion USD/year (y); and can lower CO2 emissions by 1.19 billion tons. High-temperature, hydrothermal-type geothermal resources are an efficient, stable, safe, clean, and renewable source of energy. To increase the intensity of resources exploration, drilling, power conversion, groundwater recharge, and anticorrosion technology innovation is needed to ensure an energy revolution.