China to host global geothermal congress for the first time

Beijing will be the host of the World Geothermal Congress 2023, the first time the country will host the event, said the International Geothermal Association.

"With its commitment to utilize geothermal energy in its efforts on making cities smoke-free, China has seen incredible growth in geothermal district heating capacity," said Alexander Richter, president of the IGA.

"With that, it serves as a great example and showcases the role of geothermal energy beyond electricity in direct use of geothermal resources for heating, both for businesses, residences and industrial use."

China has stepped up its efforts to develop geothermal energy in recent years. Installed capacity for geothermal energy that could be directly used in China reached 40.6 gigawatts, 38 percent of the world's total, said Ma Yongsheng, president of China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, or Sinopec.

China considers geothermal energy as a major heating source and has been actively working on detailed measures of further utilizing the clean energy.

Sinopec, as a leading enterprise of the geothermal energy in China, has come up with geothermal energy that could heat more than 80 million square meters, more than 30 percent of the country's total geothermal heating areas. It is equivalent of reducing 1.85 million tons of standard coal each year, which could reduce 3.52 million tons of carbon dioxide, it said.