The IExE seeks to inform and shape the creation of an ecologically-responsible, sustainable energy future that balances energy production and consumption for the benefit of society. Instrumental in doing so is the assessment of the sustainability of all possible energy future scenarios, and the identification of the subsequent environmental consequences of each.
IExE Energy Scenarios faculty and students are conducting holistic evaluations of different energy scenarios, with the goal of reducing the negative environmental and human health consequences of each. Fundamental to this work is the comprehensive analysis of the full energy lifecycle - production to end-use. IExE faculty and student teams are, for example, developing new instrumentation and methods to measure and assess pollutant lifecycle from source to receptor; determining pollutant pathways, the dynamic partitioning, chemical and biological transformations, and changes in potency of identified pollutants; developing multi-scale, multi-media models of pollutants in the environment to project future impacts and compare alternative policy scenarios; applying fundamental knowledge of toxicology and risk assessment to address the estimated impacts on affected populations, including sensitive and susceptible subpopulations; conducting assessments of ecological health impacts, including eco-toxicology, ecological risk assessment, and habitat fragmentation; assessing the environmental impacts of construction associated with energy development; and, conducting lifecycle assessment and decision analysis.