Abstract
he Bats and Wind Energy Cooperative (BWEC or Cooperative) is an alliance of experts from government agencies, private industry, academic institutions, and non-governmental organizations that cooperate to develop and disseminate solutions to reduce to the greatest extent practicable or, where possible, prevent mortality of bats at wind energy facilities. The BWEC is overseen by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA), Bat Conservation International (BCI), the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). BWEC’s Oversight, Science Advisory, and Technical Advisory Committees met at NREL’s National Wind Technology Center from June 5–7, 2018 for the 5thScience and All Committees Meetingto examine progress of the BWEC, review existing monitoring and minimization strategies, discuss emerging issues, assess the effectiveness of BWEC, and establish priorities for the Cooperative for the years 2018 to 2021.
Research Priorities and Emerging Issues
The BWEC discussed priorities for 2018–2021 in the following categories. Further detail on a wider range of possible activities are included later in this report. Discussions were informed by BWEC progress to date, BWEC participant research initiatives, and guest presentations. The priorities developed were designed to inform Oversight Committee decision-making and did not represent final decisions on specific activities. The priority categories are:
- Population estimation, modeling, and data collection
- Fatality estimation, modeling, and sampling
- Bat behavior at the turbine-or facility-scale
- Bat behavior at the landscape-scale
- Operational minimization
- Deterrent technologies
- Other issues: expand network of international partners, monitor offshore wind development, dissemination and training, pre-post construction fatality risk relationship, explore policy options for implementation of practicable impact reduction strategies, monitor distributed wind development