Assessing Socioeconomic Consequences of Energy Projects for Host Communities: Coal Mines and Wind Farms in West Virginia
2023 Faculty Research Award
AWARD PERIOD: 2023-2025
Eric Larson, senior research engineer at the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, and Elke Weber, Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment, will investigate the socioeconomic impacts of coal mining versus wind farming in communities located in West Virginia. The researchers will gather data from communities differentiated by their dependence on different energy systems (coal versus wind) to understand the relative impacts and outcomes for household income, gender inequality and unemployment rates. They will then compare observed results with the perceptions the community members hold about the perceived risks and benefits of the two energy system alternatives. This research deliberately follows landmark legislation, passed recently, including the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, that potentially alters the U.S. energy landscape at an unprecedented scale over the next several decades.
Undergraduate students are expected to participate in field work related to the project. Observations made from the research will be integrated as case studies in a course that is taught by Larson and Chris Greig, the Theodora D. ’78 & William H. Walton III ’74 Senior Research Scientist in the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, with a goal to help students understand and identify approaches for resolving bottlenecks and constraints of rapid energy-system transitions.
Participating Departments
- Center for Policy Research on Energy and the Environment
- Department of Psychology
- Princeton School of Public and International Affairs
Faculty
