Shanghai to make most of geothermal heating

Shanghai (CNS) -- Shanghai intends to do more with shallow geothermal energy use and harness the clean energy to heat and cool buildings over an area of four million square meters by 2015, said a local official on Monday.

The energy is the shallow variety, coming from just 200 meters underground where soil and groundwater temperatures remain at a fairly constant 25 degrees Celsius year round. Once a building is equipped with an air-exchange system, this heat can be pumped throughout to control indoor temperatures.

A switch to geothermal energy for just one square urban kilometer saves at least 24,000 tons of coal.

The exploration and use of this clean energy is still at the initial stages in Shanghai, said local expert Gao Shixian. Gao added shallow geothermal energy is not only a renewable source, it is widely accessible throughout China and thus has great potential for carbon emission reduction.