China sets up base to explore deep-sea energy

[gremlin]

full story at the link. looks like china is going for the deep sea mining. could be there wanting to take the market on minerals.

http://www.china.org.cn/environment/201 ... 803758.htm

China will build a multi-million dollar research base on its east coast to accelerate the study and exploration of deep-sea energy resources, officials with the preparatory group of the base said Thursday.

The base covers 26 hectars of the ground and 62.72 hectares of the sea in the coastal city of Qingdao, Shandong Province, and will serve as a ground support station for China's manned submersible vehicle "Jiaolong".

Engineers have started to design the research base whose initial construction cost is estimated to reach 495 million yuan (around 72.8 million U.S. dollars), said officials from Ministry of Science and Technology and State Oceanic Administration.

Scientists believe sea beds at a depth of 4,000 to 6,000 meters hold abundant deposits of rare metals and methane hydrate, a solidified form of natural gas bound into ice that can serve as a new energy source.

[russau]

id like to borrow this for 1 summer in Alaska!

[gremlin]

i have allways wanted to build a sub. could be fun. or at least a robot to get the gold. that way i can stay a bit dry.