Sign up for a free trial of News Direct's animated news graphics at http://newsdirect.nma.com.tw/Reuters.aspx<br /><br />U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin announced plans to build a green energy power plant that will use variations in ocean water temperature to generate electricity, taking a big step toward making the 130-year-old concept commercially viable.<br /><br />Lockheed signed an agreement in Beijing with the privately held Reignwood Group to build the 10-megawatt offshore plant that will provide energy for a new luxury resort on Hainan island in southern China. It will use what is known as ocean thermal energy conversion technology, or OTEC.<br /><br />A 10-megawatt plant, able to power several thousand homes, would be a major advance in the use of OTEC and experts say it would be a stepping stone toward building 100 megawatt plants capable of powering small cities.<br /><br />The OTEC process uses warm tropical waters to power a steam-driven turbine. Cold water is pumped from the depths of the sea to condense the steam back into liquid.<br /><br />Closed-system plants like the one Lockheed plans to build use a liquid such as ammonia that has a low boiling point to create the steam.<br /><br />Warmer surface waters pass by a heat exchanger, causing the ammonia in the closed system to boil and create the steam that drives the turbine. Cold deep-sea water is pumped by another heat exchanger to condense the ammonia back to a liquid.<br /><br />FOR MORE NEXT MEDIA ANIMATION, GO TO: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=NMAWorldEdition <br /><br />FOR MORE NEXT MEDIA ANIMATION IN ENGLISH, GO TO: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=NMAtv <br /><br />FOR MORE TOMONEWS US, GO TO:<br />http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=TomoNewsUS <br /><br />FOR MORE TOMONEWS JP, GO TO: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=TomoNewsJP <br /><br />FOR MORE APPLE DAILY ENGLISH, GO TO: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=AppleDailyEnglish <br /><br />CHECK OUT THE ODDBODS!<br />http://www.youtube.com/user/nxTomo
