Island and remote coastal communities often bear the brunt of intense storms and hurricanes and then need to wait for help to arrive. Marine scientists from East Carolina University (ECU) and University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (UNC) are partnering to study the problem with funding from a National Science Foundation grant. They will study how renewable energy and advanced marine technologies can be used to get these communities back on their feet more quickly following climate-related disasters.
The five-year grant, awarded in October, went to Dr. Eric Wade, assistant professor in the Department of Coastal Studies, and Lindsay Dubbs from UNC, both of whom are based at the Coastal Studies Institute on ECU’s Outer Banks Campus. They will focus their research in Nags Head, North Carolina and will, in part, study technologies that use waves as a renewable energy source. “This project can be transformative for powering remote coastal communities by leveraging wave energy technologies,” said Wade.
Wade said that lessons were learned following the devastation of Hurricane Helene.“We realize how those communities were pretty much cut off from the rest of the state,” he told WUNC. “Those are similar threats that we face here on the Outer Banks. We are a vulnerable remote community, and the introduction and use of marine energy (will) allow us to be more self-sufficient.”
In addition to studying wave energy to get the lights back on, desalination technology could be used to provide potable water. These approaches offer remote coastal communities a lifeline, allowing them to live more comfortably and safely while waiting to be reconnected to the electrical grid. “As the intensity of these storms increases, and as the frequency of these storms increases, marine energy could be one of the solutions,” Wade said.
Wade also says that using technology to monitor ocean currents and temperatures could benefit small-scale fishers. “The potential for North Carolina, for small-scale fishers, for communities is vast. And I think this project allows us to test a few different options to meet the needs of these ocean communities.”
The first year of the project will be used to gather information and seek input from the local residents. [T]his project centers communities as a key partner by understanding their needs and designing technologies that best meet them,” Wade said. “Through this community-centered approach, we hope to contribute to the need for energy equality and sustainability for coastal remote communities.”
CSI focuses on integrated coastal research and education programming centered around the needs, issues, and concerns of coastal North Carolinians. It hosts the North Carolina Renewable Ocean Energy Program which works to advance marine energy solutions.
