Harnessing geothermal energy at an agricultural park in the Anju District in the City of Suining in Sichuan Province, China has started operations has provided an economic value of 270 million yuan, leading to an increase in enterprise income, the income of the general population, and high-quality agricultural development.

At present, the “Three Rice Parks” four-star park is described as a “geothermal park” that innovatively formed a model integrating geothermal energy, power generation, fish farming, seed cultivation, and crops drying.

Feasibility study

The initial idea for the geothermal park came from Zou Yuanxin, member of the District Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), who then consulted with Professor Li Zhongquan, Dean of the School of Earth Sciences of Chengdu University of Technology. The next month, Professor Li Zhongquan led an expert team to Anju to conduct geothermal research. The relevant results attracted great attention from party committees and governments at the provincial, municipal, and district levels.

To craft a feasibility study, a “Geothermal Cooperation Agreement” was created between Anju District and Chengdu University of Technology. District CPPCC members proposed doing a comprehensive analysis of geothermal sources and targeted development of a geothermal agricultural industry through the conduct of surveys for social conditions and public opinion.

Based on the results, Well Moxi 210 of the existing Anyue Gas Field was selected as the heat source for the project. A peak-staggered energy supply scheme was formulated to deal with the problem of insufficient heat energy supply. Cooperation with the China Agricultural University, Sichuan Agricultural University, and other institutions were agreed upon to facilitiate the rapid implementation of several necessary technologies.

Mobilization of resources

Right at the onset, it had been foreseen that the project was going be big and will involve heavy tasks, a tight timeline, and the participation of many people. There were 11 projects under the plan including the farmland transformation, mechanization construction, road construction, and water facility construction among others. The CPPCC came up with practical measures to help solve these problems.

Under the organization of the district CPPCC, on-site consultations were held to address grassroots governance issues, and a formation was formed led by three town party committees, integrating eight CPPCC members, and the eight chiefs of the villages.

The integrated development of politics, moral governance, autonomy, legal governance, and intelligent governance provided a foundation for the construction of the park. According to incomplete statistics, during the construction of the geothermal park, members of the district CPPCC went to the park to carry out more than 270 duties and helped solve more than 80 people’s problems.

Fostering the community’s needs

Land remediation during the construction of the farmland resulted in the cutting off of some sources for the people’s water supply. District CPPCC member Chen Kelan and Sanjia Town worked together with the district Urban Management and Law Enforcement Bureau to deliver more than 60 tons of water every day to augment the water supply of the people.

In order to solve the problems of insufficient labor and slow harvest of crops, which affect the progress of mechanization transformation, Liu Ying, a member of the District CPPCC, took the lead in forming a Sanjia Town Youth Commando Team to help the masses harvest more than 70 acres of wheat, more than 60 acres of rapeseed, and 110 acres of rice.

With the full assistance of the committee members, Anju District integrated talents, connections, projects and other resources to work together to tackle the problem. It only took 100 days to build the first batch of low-carbon geothermal modern agricultural parks in the country, and successfully hosted the Sichuan Province Geothermal Park this year. The comprehensive utilization on-site meeting provides continuous momentum for the construction of geothermal parks.

“The future of geothermal agriculture is promising!” remarked Tian Bin, Chairman of the District CPPCC, during an interview.

With abundant geothermal resources that account for about one-sixth of the global total and present great potential for development and utilization, China’s direct utilization of geothermal heating has ranked No.1 in the world for many years.

by thinkgeoenergy