BEIJING, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec), the country's biggest geothermal developer, vows to further develop geothermal energy nationwide and increase share of clean energy production, the China Daily reported Wednesday.
The company has replaced coal with geothermal energy in 10 cities nationwide so far, said Ma Yongsheng, president of Sinopec, during the 2018 China Geothermal Energy International Forum in Shanghai on Tuesday.
Sinopec, the world's largest refiner by volume, aims to replace coal with geothermal energy in 20 cities nationwide and boost its geothermal heating capacity to 120 million cubic meters by 2023, the newspaper said.
It has also pledged to increase its share of clean energy production to more than 50 percent within six years, by upping its output of natural gas, shale gas and related facilities.
Geothermal energy, energy that is harnessed from heat underground for heating or electricity production, is considered sustainable and clean.
Regions heated by geothermal energy in China have exceeded 150 square km so far, with a substantial boost seen in recent years. The northern part of China, with sufficient geothermal energy, aims to have 1000 square km of geothermal energy heated regions by 2021.
China aims to increase its installed geothermal energy capacity by 500 gigawatts from 2016 to 2020, according to the 13th Five-Year Plan for geothermal energy released in 2016, the first such plan in this field.
Considering the massive resources of geothermal energy in the country, which accounts for one sixth of the global total amount, analysts believe the exploration and development of the clean energy plays a significant role in the country's energy optimization and security.
