China News Service, Taiyuan, September 5 (Reporter Fan Lifang) "The urgency of decarbonizing the global energy system cannot be ignored. Geothermal energy has unique advantages and should play an important role in achieving carbon reduction goals, and it is crucial to develop the geothermal industry through international collaboration and knowledge sharing."
The 2026 Taiyuan Energy Low Carbon Development Forum International Geothermal Forum and the Seventh International Geothermal Symposium were held in Taiyuan, Shanxi on the 5th. Graeme Beardsmore, a member of the International Geothermal Standards Committee, shared the above views.
On September 5, the International Geothermal Forum and the Seventh International Symposium on Geosciences were held in Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province. Photo by Zhang Haoyu
Geothermal resources have become an important direction in global energy transformation due to their advantages of cleanliness, efficiency, stability and wide distribution. Data shows that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, China's geothermal heating and cooling area increased by an average annual rate of 6.5%, reaching 1.65 billion square meters in 2025. The scale of the geothermal industry has long ranked first in the world.
José Luis Samaniego, Deputy Minister of Environment and Natural Resources of Mexico, said that the country is increasing the proportion of renewable energy in the energy structure. "Now a new bill has been introduced to better integrate geothermal into the energy structure and promote the transformation of Mexico's energy structure into a green and sustainable one. We hope to strengthen cooperation with China to make the economic structure more resilient."
The forum focused on releasing two important results in the geothermal field. Among them, the international standard "Geothermal Terminology" compiled by the International Geothermal Standards Committee was promoted for the first time in China; Shanxi Yuncheng released the results of geothermal development and utilization, focusing on practical results such as large-scale development and clean heating substitution.
During the forum, Wang Yanxin, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Shanxi geological exploration system experts, together with 6 foreign experts from Iceland, the European Union, the International Renewable Energy Agency and other international institutions, had in-depth exchanges on topics such as new achievements in geothermal exploration technology; the academic report meeting brought together 8 experts and scholars including Wang Guiling, a foreign academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, and Xiao Keyan, an academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
As an important energy base, Shanxi also has significant advantages in geothermal resources. Zhang Junfeng, vice president of China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), said that a team of academicians and experts from the school discovered a high-temperature geothermal well exceeding 150 degrees Celsius in Datong, Shanxi, through provincial-school strategic cooperation and joint research with industry, academia and research. The well is the geothermal well with the highest temperature and largest artesian flow in central and eastern China.
In recent years, Shanxi has intensively carried out refined surveys of geothermal resources, made breakthroughs in key technologies such as mid-to-deep geothermal same-layer recirculation, built 22 demonstration projects such as the third phase of Wusu Airport geothermal heating and cooling, and listed the province's first geothermal mining rights for sale. It has realized closed-loop supervision of the entire process of geothermal water development and utilization, and provided a reference for the green transformation of energy in resource-based areas.
This forum was co-sponsored by nine units (institutions) including the National Geological Survey of Iceland, the International Geothermal Standards Committee (IGSC), the Geothermal Professional Committee of the Geological Society of China, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), China University of Mining and Technology, Institute of Hydrogeology and Environmental Geology of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Shanxi Provincial Department of Natural Resources, Shanxi Provincial Geological Survey Bureau, and Shanxi Geological Group Co., Ltd. With the theme of "Geothermal Empowers the Future, Low Carbon Leads Development", more than 120 Chinese and foreign guests from 28 countries and regions participated. (over)
