摘要
Energy is one kind of important and basic resources for human life, economic development and social progress. It is also an important strategic material related to the nation’s economy and economic security. With increasingly serious global warming, greenhouse effects and energy shortage problems, clean and renewable shallow geothermal energy resources have attracted much attention all over the world. By the end of 2010, 43 countries have developed and utilized such resources. Recently, development and utilization of new energy and renewable energy have made great progress in China. And the techniques of renewable energy utilization have acquired considerable achievements. In particular, the shallow geothermal energy development and utilization have stepped from an initial stage since the 1990s into a rapid development period. An incomplete statistics shows that the service area of the shallow geothermal energy in China reaches as great as 2×108m2 at present which has become the main force of building energy conservation. This paper summarizes the development and utilization of shallow geothermal energy in China and elsewhere in the world, focusing on heat pump technology. It would be of significance for understanding the development trend as well as evaluation of shallow geothermal energy resources and engineering construction.