The growing expansion of wind farms raises concerns about the impact of wind turbines on wildlife. New research from University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences provides new data on how turbines affect bird populations. The research indicates alternative ways to overcome the adverse impact, via wind turbine design and placement.
With wind turbine operations, birds are regarded as being particularly sensitive to wind farms, because they may collide with the turbines, or be disturbed and displaced away from otherwise suitable habitats. Taking one area in particular, collisions with wind turbines account for about one-tenth of a percent of all “unnatural” bird deaths in the U.S. each year. This equates to three birds lost for every turbine within 400 meters of a bird habitat.
Among the suggestions from the research are recommendations for taller turbines, shorter blades, and locating turbines some distance from bird habitats. These measures will help to lower the impact on bird populations.
In terms of specific recommendations, the researchers calculated that the size of the wind turbine and the length of the blades have a considerable impact. In particular taller turbines and shorter blades reduce the impact on birds.
In addition, the research suggests that turbine height correlates with bird count, although blade length appears to be the most important factor.
Furthermore, it is also recommended that wind turbines are located in a space outside of a 1,600 meter buffer zone, away from high-density bird habitats.
According to lead researcher Madhu Khanna: “No single technology is such that it is only beneficial and has no negative consequences. You can minimize the effect by making the recommended adjustments.”
The research has been presented to the journal Energy Policy. The associated research paper is titled “Effect of wind turbines on bird abundance: A national scale analysis based on fixed effects models.”
