Since 2008, faculty in the IES have been researching key environmental, social, and economic issues related to wind power. The project, in partnership with NextEra Energy Resources (formerly FPL Energy), focuses on the broad scale ecological and socio-economic impacts of wind development, including evaluation of the coexistence of wind power with thriving bird and bat populations, ecological footprints of wind farms, carbon offset analysis, and benefits of wind farms to ecosystem health and local communities.
Recent article in the LA times on the TCU initiative.
