Saturday, October 6, 2007

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion

OTEC, or ocean thermal energy conversion, is an energy technology that converts solar radiation to electric power. OTEC systems use the ocean's natural thermal gradient—the fact that the ocean's layers of water have different temperatures—to drive a power-producing cycle. As long as the temperature between the warm surface water and the cold deep water differs by about 20°C (36°F), an OTEC system can produce a significant amount of power. The oceans are thus a vast renewable resource, with the potential to help us produce billions of watts of electric power.

Read more at:
http://www.nrel.gov/otec/what.html

Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x59MptHscxY

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