East China's Shandong Province plans to build the country's largest geothermal research and development base in Qihe county, on the northern bank of the Yellow River, where ample geothermal resources have been spotted.

Shandong Provincial Geology and Mineral Resources Bureau will invest some 180 million yuan (US$21.7 million) of start-up fund to build the 40-hectare geothermal base, which will consist of a sci-tech park, a production zone for geothermal air-conditioners and rust proofing tubing, a hot spring bathing and therapeutic center, an aquatic breeding center and a plantation of green farm products.

Sources with the bureau noted that the plan has got the green light from the Ministry of Land and Resources, China Geological Survey Bureau and Shandong provincial government.

A preliminary survey shows the exploitable geothermal resources within 3,000 meters underground Shandong Province are equal to 10 billion tons of standard coal.

Earlier this year, prospectors drilled what they believed to be one of the largest geothermal wells in the province, one that has groundwater measuring 57 degrees Celsius and can supply 120 cubic meters of water per hour. Laboratory tests show the groundwater contains enough strontium and fluorine for medication purposes and is rich in lithium, bromine and other trace elements helpful for human health.

Experts cite geothermal energy as an alternative energy resource that has a brighter future than hydropower and fossil fuels, and say it can be used in heating, health care and manufacturing industries.    

(Xinhua News Agency December 7, 2004)