TY - RPRT
TI - A Synthesis of Operational Mitigation Studies to Reduce Bat Fatalities at Wind Energy Facilities in North America
AU - Arnett, E
AU - Johnson, G
AU - Erickson, W
AU - Hein, C
AB - Widespread and often extensive fatalities of bats have increased concern about impacts of wind energy development on bats and other wildlife. Minimizing these fatalities is critically important to both bat conservation and public acceptance of wind-energy development. Currently, only operational mitigation (stopping turbine blades from spinning) during predictable high risk periods has demonstrated effective reductions of fatalities of bats.We synthesized information from 10 different operational mitigation studies in North America. Most studies found at least a 50% reduction in bat fatalities when turbine cut-in speed (wind speed at which turbines begin producing electricity into the power grid) was increased by 1.5 m/s above the manufacturer’s cut-in speed. Similar reductions in bat fatality were reported by one study that implemented a raised cut-in speed given temperatures were above 9.5°C. One study demonstrated equally beneficial reductions with a low-speed idling approach, while another discovered that feathering turbine blades (pitched 90o and parallel to the wind) at or below the manufacturer’s cut-in speed resulted in up to 72% fewer bats killed when turbines produced no electricity into the power grid. Other studies that did not demonstrate statistically significant effects could be explained by lack of treatments being implemented during the study (i.e., winds were either too low or high to enable comparison of treatments), and the relatively low reduction in bat fatality (approximately 20–38%) at one study may be explained by the high percentage of Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis), a species known to fly at higher wind speeds. Few studies have disclosed actual power loss and economic costs of operational mitigation, but those that have suggest that 
DA - 2013/03//
PY - 2013
SP - 38
PB - Bat Conservation International
UR - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/298349872_A_Synthesis_of_Operational_Mitigation_Studies_to_Reduce_Bat_Fatalities_at_Wind_Energy_Facilities_in_North_America
LA - English
KW - Wind Energy
KW - Land-Based Wind
KW - Collision
KW - Bats
ER -