| Abstract |
Geothermal energy and the other renewable energy sources are becoming attractive solutions for clean and sustainable energy needs of China. There are riches low-medium temperature geothermal resources in China which has been proven equivalent to 8.6×1015 tons of coal. However, the main way of using geothermal energy is district heating in some big cities in north China. The using scale is quite small and still has certain gap with the size of the market. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the potential geothermal energy market in China including calculate economic efficiency and the environmental impact in northern China. Based on the characteristics of low temperature geothermal resources, we build up a comprehensive evaluation system. First, we set up a file to make basic financial evaluation of geothermal engineering operational data for XianYang, XiongXian, TianJin and PanJin; second, we use super-efficiency DEA model to evaluate the economic efficiency in northern China from the large regional perspective; Then, using LCA method to calculate the environmental impact potentials during the geothermal development process; Catastrophe progression method is finally used to integrate economic and environmental indicators objectively and systematically, which can be used to predict the potential of the geothermal energy market in China. |