Renewable resources currently play an important role in the world and geothermal energy is one of them. It is known to be one of the clean and reliable sources of energy. Although the importance of geothermal energy has been realized for a long time, its exploitation is still far away due to certain reasons, which are emphasized in this article. This article gives an overview about the development of geothermal energy worldwide, identifies the barriers that hinder the development of geothermal energy, proposes instruments to overcome the barriers, and, finally, gives some recommendations for faster exploitation of geothermal energy in China.