China Plans To Mine the Yellow Sea Floor

eldavojohn writes "Details are limited but state media is reporting on $75 million being put into a new research facility in Qingdao, Shandong Province that will conduct research into mining the sea floor. From the article: '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.' The research center's first goal is to do surveying and exploration with a new submersible named 'Jiaolong' (a mythical aquatic Chinese dragon). Hopefully these quests yield energy resources to meet growing demand for resources like liquefied coal in China."

Comments

Perfect Balance

[Anonymous Coward]

The way I see it, as long as we dig up the bottom of the ocean fast enough, we can counteract the rising water levels due to global warming! The more we dig, the more we burn, the more it rises, the more we dig; nature back in balance~!
Horray!

And the best part is

[hsmith]

The river just carries away everything you dig up, no need for expensive hauling equipment!

Re:What could possibly go wrong

[the eric conspiracy]

Look at it this way - sending a lot of people into the ocean to recover resources will solve two problems - too many people and not enough resources.

watch their expensive sub sinks

[Anonymous Coward]

when it loses buoyancy after encountering those methane packets.

Re:Unfortunately, this is what we do

[d1r3lnd]

Anyone who is serious? What, the rest of us are light-hearted jokesters?

Hey guys, we're innovating our way out of resource scarcity! What crazy shenanigans will we think up next?

If you'd like to claim that I'm being overly optimistic, I remind you that I have the entire history of the human race supporting my theory, and you've got a long line of doomsday-prophesying crackpots backing up yours.

By all means, try to convince me that subsistence farming the Olduvai Gorge with a few thousand other folks is the way forward. The relentless drumbeat of human progress will go on regardless.

Any Chinese Up For This?

[Greyfox]

Hey, we're looking for 10,000 volunteers to MINE THE SEA FLOOR! Low wages, sleep in the sea, and we're ALMOST COMPLETELY POSITIVE that there won't be a news story in 6 months that 34 sea floor miners have been trapped in a cave-in for 4 months! Who's up for it?!