INFEWS US-China: Creating Ocean Wave Powered Resilient FEW Systems in Saline Coastal Regions

本项目通过“国家自然科学基金(NSF) /国家自然科学基金（NSFC）环境可持续性挑战联合研究”的机会获得资助。由于人口增长和经济增长，相互关联的食物-能源-水（FEW）需求正在增加。在美国和中国，有一种人口向海岸线集中的趋势。海岸带是陆地、水和空气的界面，人类活动对海岸带生态系统的影响较大，因此海岸带生态系统的恢复能力较弱。沿海土地经常含有受盐影响的土壤，使这些土地不适合农业。开垦这些土地可以极大地提高世界粮食产量。然而，盐渍土壤的复垦目前需要大量的淡水和能源投入。一个有希望的解决方案是淡化沿海地区的海水，但淡化海水需要大量的能源。本项目提出利用波浪能作为可再生能源淡化海水，用于海岸围垦。此外，为了优化填海管理计划，将通过更深入地了解潮汐周期、社会和环境变化对沿海土壤-水-盐动态平衡的影响，建立FEW系统之间的供需关系。在这个美中合作项目中，来自弗吉尼亚理工大学、中国武汉理工大学和中国南京农业大学多学科领域的五名研究人员将合作在盐碱地沿海地区创建一个自我可持续的FEW系统。该系统将通过三个创新领域的整合来实现：1)基于波浪能的海水淡化系统，2)盐碱地的可持续开垦，以及3)海洋能源，淡水和沿海农业的联系。具体研究工作包括：1)新型海浪涌能转换器和海浪能驱动海水淡化系统的建模与设计；(2)海岸带盐土水平衡动态建模及海岸带土壤复垦管理和农业灌溉优化；(3)建立FEW系统的供需模型，估算各系统的最优运行工况，并进行现场试验验证。如果成功，拟议中的研究将把传统的沿海农业从消耗淡水和能源的做法转变为一种自我可持续的、环境友好的做法，以平衡生态系统。这项研究的成功可能会将美国数百万英亩受盐影响的沿海土地转化为耕地，而对这些土地目前的作用——净化水、固碳、提供栖息地和支持娱乐活动——的干扰最小。此外，该项目将涉及中美两国的合作，为学生提供独特的国际教育体验。因此，提出的可持续发展的“少数资源系统”可以作为一个示范，激励世界各地的工业，并为创造性地解决“少数资源系统”问题提供国际合作的新途径。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project was awarded through the "National Science Foundation (NSF) / National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) Joint Research on Environmental Sustainability Challenges" opportunity. Interconnected food-energy-water (FEW) demands are increasing due to increasing population and economic growth. In the US and China, there is a trend of population concentrated on the coastlines. However, the resilience of coastal ecosystems is weak since the coastal zone, an interface of land, water, and air, is greatly affected by human activities. Coastal lands frequently contain salt-affected soils rendering these lands unsuitable for agriculture. Reclamation of these lands could vastly improve worldwide food production. However, reclamation of salt-affected soils currently requires huge inputs of fresh water and energy. One promising solution is to desalinate seawater in coastal areas, but desalination requires a large amount of energy. This project proposes wave energy as the renewable energy source to desalinate seawater for coastal reclamation. Furthermore, to optimize a reclamation management plan, the demand-supply relationship between FEW Systems will be established through a stronger understanding of how the dynamic coastal soil-water-salt balance is impacted by changes in tidal cycles, society, and the environment.In this US-China collaborative project, five researchers in multidisciplinary areas from Virginia Tech, Wuhan University of Technology in China, and Nanjing Agricultural University in China will team up to create a self-sustainable FEW System in saline coastal regions. This system will be realized through the integration of three areas of innovation: 1) Wave energy-based seawater desalination systems, 2) sustainable reclamation of saline-sodic-alkaline soils, and 3) a nexus of ocean energy, freshwater, and coastal agriculture. Specific research tasks include: 1) Modeling and design of a novel ocean wave surge energy converter and an ocean wave energy powered desalination system; (2) Modeling of coastal salt-soil-water balance dynamics and optimizing soil reclamation management and agriculture irrigation specific to coastal regions; and (3) Development of a supply-demand model for the FEW System to estimate the optimal operation conditions for each system, followed by conducting field tests and verification. If successful, the proposed research will convert traditional coastal agriculture from a freshwater- and energy-consuming practice into a self-sustainable, environmentally friendly practice that balances ecosystems. Success of the proposed research can potentially convert millions of acres of salt-affected coastal lands in the US into arable lands, with minimal interference on the current roles of these lands to purify water, sequester carbon, provide habitat, and support recreation. Furthermore, this project will involve a collaboration between the US and China and provide unique international education experiences for students. Hence, the proposed self-sustainable FEW System can serve as a demonstration to inspire industry worldwide and provide a new avenue for international collaborations to creatively solve FEW System problems.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.