What is it, and why work on it?

Wind energy is one of the fastest growing forms of renewable energy in the world, and billions of dollars are being put into wind energy research, development, and operations.  But there are still some major aspects of wind energy that we don’t understand.  Power generated by a wind plant appears to be very sensitive to particular aspects of the inflow.  Wind turbines are in some cases not reaching their expected lifetimes.  We need to understand these better to improve wind energy as a financially viable, sustainable, safe means of generating power for generations to come.