(Shallow) Geothermal Energy Still Far From Widespread Utilization in China

[kristopher]

Geothermal Energy Still Far From Widespread Utilization in China
By Liu Yuanyuan, Contributor
December 6, 2011

BEIJING -- Shallow geothermal energy is a form of thermal energy that is available in underground soil and groundwater. Compared to other sources of energy, geothermal energy from shallow ground is an abundant and recycled energy resource with wide geographic distribution. Ground source heat pump technology makes development and utilization of shallow geothermal energy possible.

China is starting to focus on development and utilization of geothermal energy. In Shandong province, it is estimated that shallow geothermal energy resources within the first 200 meters (approx. 600 feet) beneath the surface is equivalent to 131 million tons of standard coal each year, or approximately 40 percent of the province's coal reserves. The potential value of these resources is more than 6.5 trillion yuan (approx. US$1 trillion).

Prospects for ground source heat pumps become ...

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2011/12/geothermal-energy-still-far-from-widespread-utilization-in-china?cmpid=GeoNL-Thursday-December8-2011

[msongs]

1. our corporations also have 5 year plans - grab everything they can and keep it to themselves nt

[On the Road]

2. Do You Know What Temperature the Underground Soil

that heats the water? Or whether the geology in parts of the US would support similar shallow geothermal?

Shandong is coastal but has mountains. Seems more similar to the US West than East Coast.

[Bob Wallace]

3. We got some...

Google recently funded a large survey of US geothermal potential. You can see lots of detail on Google Earth.

Start on this page...

http://www.google.org/egs/

And click on "Open in Google Earth".

This new survey found significant potential in West Virginia among other places. Most of the best is in the West.

And this page should answer most of your temperature type questions...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermal_electricity

[IDemo]

4. Geothermal Energy and Ground Source Heat Pumps are two separate things

Geothermal power plants require the presence of a hot water source from within the earth, while the ground source heat pump systems simply rely on the soil's ability to maintain a nearly constant temperature year round.

This page explains the difference pretty well.