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Topic · Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment

Geothermal Energy Systems and Applications

Geothermal Energy Systems and Applications is a research topic within Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment. Science Explorer counts 14k research works in it since 1950. 10.1% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers covers a wide range of topics related to geothermal energy technology and applications, including ground source heat pumps, thermal conductivity of rocks and soils, enhanced geothermal systems, energy piles, seasonal thermal energy storage, and sustainability. The papers discuss experimental evaluations, numerical simulations, performance analyses, and techno-economic appraisals of various geothermal energy systems and technologies.

  • Geothermal Energy
  • Ground Source Heat Pump
  • Renewable Energy
  • Thermal Conductivity
  • Enhanced Geothermal Systems
  • Heat Transfer
  • Energy Piles
  • Thermal Response Test
  • Seasonal Thermal Energy Storage
  • Sustainability
Research works
14k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
1.4k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.1%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+38%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
49% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Geothermal Energy Systems and Applications

Which countries lead Geothermal Energy Systems and Applications research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (1.5k and 408 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 1.5k works
  2. 2 United States 408 works
  3. 3 Germany 233 works
  4. 4 India 165 works
  5. 5 United Kingdom 161 works
  6. 6 Italy 159 works
  7. 7 Canada 142 works
  8. 8 France 116 works
  9. 9 Türkiye 113 works
  10. 10 Spain 97 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 48.7%United States: 13.1%Germany: 7.5%India: 5.3%6 others listed: 25.4%49%largest
China1,511 · 48.7%United States408 · 13.1%Germany233 · 7.5%India165 · 5.3%6 others listed788 · 25.4%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Geothermal Energy Systems and Applications research?

By volume in 2022-now, Chinese Academy of Sciences publishes the most Geothermal Energy Systems and Applications research, followed by China University of Mining and Technology and Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 65 works
  2. 2 China University of Mining and TechnologyChina 46 works
  3. 3 Helmholtz Association of German Research CentresGermany 42 works
  4. 4 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 33 works
  5. 5 China University of Petroleum, BeijingChina 30 works
  6. 6 Xi'an Jiaotong UniversityChina 29 works
  7. 7 Chongqing UniversityChina 28 works
  8. 8 Tongji UniversityChina 26 works
  9. 9 Tianjin UniversityChina 25 works
  10. 10 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 24 works

Who are the leading researchers in Geothermal Energy Systems and Applications?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Geothermal Energy Systems and Applications include Philippe Ciais and M. Martı́nez.

  1. 1 Philippe Ciais France 237k citations
  2. 2 M. Martı́nez France 154k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Geothermal Energy Systems and Applications?

The most cited paper in Geothermal Energy Systems and Applications is "A Closed‐form Equation for Predicting the Hydraulic Conductivity of Unsaturated Soils" (Martinus Th. van Genuchten, 1980), with 27,905 citations. Next come "Moisture movement in porous materials under temperature gradients" (2,396) and "A SIMPLE METHOD FOR DETERMINING UNSATURATED CONDUCTIVITY FROM MOISTURE RETENTION DATA" (1,722).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 A Closed‐form Equation for Predicting the Hydraulic Conductivity of Unsaturated Soils Martinus Th. van Genuchten · Soil Science Society of America Journal Sep 1980 27,905
2 Moisture movement in porous materials under temperature gradients J. R. Philip, D. A. de Vries · Transactions American Geophysical Union Apr 1957 2,396
3 A SIMPLE METHOD FOR DETERMINING UNSATURATED CONDUCTIVITY FROM MOISTURE RETENTION DATA Gaylon S. Campbell · Soil Science Jun 1974 1,722
4 Direct utilization of geothermal energy 2015 worldwide review John Lund, Tonya L. Boyd · Geothermics 2 Jan 2016 1,428
5 Energy foundations and other thermo-active ground structures H. Brandl · Géotechnique 24 Feb 2006 1,323
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Geothermal Energy Systems and Applications research done?

The largest centres of Geothermal Energy Systems and Applications research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Xi'an (China), Wuhan (China) and Chengdu (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Xuzhou, Potsdam and Kongens Lyngby.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 368 works
  2. 2 Xi'anChina 84 works
  3. 3 WuhanChina 77 works
  4. 4 ChengduChina 70 works
  5. 5 NanjingChina 70 works
  6. 6 TianjinChina 62 works
  7. 7 ShanghaiChina 59 works
  8. 8 QingdaoChina 49 works
  9. 9 XuzhouChina 47 works
  10. 10 ChongqingChina 41 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. XuzhouCN · 46.6 works11×
  2. PotsdamDE · 20.7 works10×
  3. Kongens LyngbyDK · 20.2 works8.8×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Geothermal Energy Systems and Applications than the world average.

See Geothermal Energy Systems and Applications on the map

Where is the best place to study Geothermal Energy Systems and Applications?

Among universities, judged by research, Technical University of Denmark, China University of Mining and Technology and China University of Petroleum, Beijing score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%30%mean 19.96%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Technical University…Xi'an Jiaotong Unive…China University of …China University of …
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Technical University of DenmarkDenmark 73.422.0%9.9×20 +15.0%
2China University of Mining and TechnologyChina 72.814.1%14.8×46 +86.6%
3China University of Petroleum, BeijingChina 72.614.6%19.4×30 +49.1%
4Xi'an Jiaotong UniversityChina 69.117.0%4.2×29 +52.3%
5Delft University of TechnologyNetherlands 65.820.1%6.5×17 +19.8%
6Chongqing UniversityChina 65.418.9%6.5×28 +101.2%
7Southwest Jiaotong UniversityChina 63.920.0%5.7×17 +200.1%
8King Fahd University of Petroleum and MineralsSaudi Arabia 63.521.5%9.2×13 +269.0%
9Shenzhen UniversityChina 63.426.6%3.5×10 +148.2%
10University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 63.124.8%2.4×16 +95.9%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Geothermal Energy Systems and Applications, country by country

Is Geothermal Energy Systems and Applications research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 38% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2026. The fastest-growing topics are Geothermal Energy Systems and Applications.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Geothermal Energy Systems and Applications as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.015% in 2024.

still counting0.010%0.020%0.030%Geothermal Energy Systems and Applications0.021% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Geothermal Energy Systems and Applications over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Geothermal Energy Systems and Applications10.0% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

Questions people ask

Who leads geothermal energy research?

By volume in 2022-now, Chinese Academy of Sciences publishes the most Geothermal Energy Systems and Applications research, followed by China University of Mining and Technology and Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres. By volume, China and the United States publish the most (1.5k and 408 works in 2022-now).

All 1,273 questions in the Question Catalogue

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