Jeff Scruggs
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Lei Zuo
Herbert C. Sadler Collegiate Professor of Engineering
Professor of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering
Coastal regions are collaborating with researchers to find optimal wave energy solutions at Beaver Island, Michigan, and Nags Head, North Carolina. Led by the University of Michigan and funded with $3.6 million from the National Science Foundation, the project unites experts from five institutions. The aim is to provide renewable energy for coastal communities and make wave energy competitive with solar and wind.
Wave energy could power Alaska and Hawaii entirely and meet 35% of the U.S. electricity demand, as per the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. However, wave energy isn’t yet on par with wind and solar energy due to undeveloped harvesting technology.
“Everybody knows what a wind turbine looks like because the research community has rallied behind a single idea,” said Jeff Scruggs, U-M professor of civil and environmental engineering and the project’s co-principal investigator. “For wave energy converters, that’s not the case.”
Various concepts, like bobbing buoys and submersed devices, have been tested. Each has its pros and cons, like vulnerability to storms or environmental risks, with no established guidelines to balance these trade-offs.
“We need to develop a method to holistically assess wave energy devices,” said Lei Zuo, the project’s lead principal investigator. The team plans to create an assessment framework with community input from the start. For Beaver Island, wave energy could enhance energy security by reducing reliance on diesel. At Nags Head, it could supply emergency power and desalination during crises.
“As researchers, we often think that communities are only recipients of our research,” said Eric Wade, assistant professor of coastal studies at East Carolina University. Without community-driven designs, renewable projects may face resistance, as seen in a halted offshore wind project in Cleveland, Ohio, due to local opposition.
“All of the research to date indicates that wave energy isn’t likely a high risk to marine life compared to climate change,” said Lindsay Dubbs, from the University of North Carolina’s Institute for the Environment. However, the lack of deployments makes it challenging to convince regulators, affecting timely permits for marine energy devices.
Additional team members include Danesh Tafti, Daniel Deng, Gail Gruenwald, and Bill Staby. Zuo is also a professor of mechanical engineering, and Scruggs is a professor of electrical and computer engineering. Wade and Dubbs are affiliated with the Coastal Studies Institute.
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