Japan may install an ocean thermal energy conversion system at a remote Pacific atoll that is the site of a territorial dispute with China.
A research project will gather data about water temperatures and seabed tomography at the uninhabited Okino Torishima islets, which lie about 1,090 miles south-southwest of Tokyo, Yomiuri Shimbun reported Thursday.
If an energy conversion system is found to be feasible, it may be used to supply electricity to a marine observation installation and lodgings, as well as ice-making and other fisheries-related facilities.
Japan is at odds with China over the establishment of exclusive economic zones around the atoll -- which is about 6.9 miles in circumference -- under the U.N. Convention of the Law of Sea.
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