Collision

Direct contact between an animal and a device component.

Any part of a renewable energy device that moves has the potential to have a deleterious effect on both resident and migratory organisms. Collisions between animals and tidal or wind turbine blades could result in injury or death, either by direct contact with the device or by pressure changes created around the moving parts. The probability of a collision with a blade may vary based on the rotational or mechanical speed of the moving parts, the presence and density of animals in the area, the time of day, weather conditions, and the ability of animals to sense and evade the device. Carcasses found around land-based wind turbines provide an estimate of bird and bat fatalities, while it is much more difficult to estimate the effect of collisions with offshore wind turbines. To date there have been no observed collisions of marine mammals or diving seabirds with tidal turbines. Wave energy devices also have moving parts such as heave plates, flaps, and other large heavy components that could potentially cause harm, although the likelihood is thought to be extremely small. Collisions resulting in injury and death of individual animals with moving parts of devices become particularly important if the loss of those individuals affect the stability and sustainability of the population in the area.

For more information relevant to marine energy, check out the Collision Risk Short Science Summary produced by OES-Environmental.

For more information relevant to offshore wind energy, check out the Bat and Bird Interactions with Offshore Wind Energy research brief produced by SEER.

Marine and Wind Energy Environmental Documents

Tethys is a knowledge hub that contains documents on the environmental effects of wind and marine energy. The table below contains all of the documents in the Tethys Knowledge Base associated with Collision.

Total: 1586

Searches title and abstract.
Title Author Date Content Type Technology Stressor Receptor
Spatial Distribution of Wind Turbines is Crucial for the Survival of Red Kite Populations Schaub, M. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Birds
Modelled Sensitivity of Avian Collision Rate at Wind Turbines Varies with Number of Hours of Flight Activity Input Data Douglas, D., Follestad, A., Langston, R. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Birds
The impact of a central Apennine wind-farm Forconi, P., Fusari, M., Appiotti, A. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Birds
Bat Mortality at a Wind-Energy Facility in Southeastern Wisconsin Grodsky, S., Jennelle, C., Drake, D. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Bats
Turbine Height as a Management Tool for Collision Risk to Birds at Offshore Wind Farms Davies, I., Band, B. Conference Paper Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Collision Birds
Baseline investigations of bats and birds at wind turbine test Centre Asterild Therkildsen, O., Elmeros, M., Kahlert, J. Report Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Displacement, Collision, Avoidance, Attraction Birds, Bats
Assessing the Sensitivity of Seabird Populations to Adverse Effects from Tidal Stream Turbines and Wave Energy Devices Furness, R., Wade, H., Robbins, A. Journal Article Marine Energy, Tidal, Wave Attraction, Collision, Displacement, Habitat Change Birds, Seabirds
Direct human-caused mortality of birds: improving quantification of magnitude and assessment of population impact Loss, S., Will, T., Marra, P. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Habitat Change, Displacement, Collision Birds
Marine Animal Alert System Task 2.1.5.3 - Development of Monitoring Technologies Final Report Carlson, T., Deng, Z., Myers, J. Report Tidal, Marine Energy Collision Marine Mammals
The Catchment Area of Wind Farms for European Bats: A Plea for International Regulations Voigt, C., Popa-Lisseanu, A., Niermann, I. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Bats
Impact of wind turbines on birds: a case study from Gujarat, India Kumar, S., Ali, A., Arun, P. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Birds
Some Clouds Have a Silver Lining: Paradoxes of Anthropogenic Perturbations from Study Cases on Long-Lived Social Birds Oro, D., Jimenez, J., Curco, A. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision, Habitat Change Birds
Final Cape Wind Avian and Bat Monitoring Plan ESS Group, Inc. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Collision, Displacement Bats, Birds
A Habitat-Based Wind-Wildlife Collision Model with Application to the Upper Great Plains Region Forcey, G. Report Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision, Avoidance, Attraction Birds, Bats
Radar Monitoring of Migrating Pink-Footed Geese: Behavioural Responses to Offshore Wind Farm Development Plonczkier, P., Simms, I. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Collision, Avoidance Birds
Scavenger removal: Bird and bat carcass persistence in a tropical wind farm Villegas-Patraca, R., Macias-Sanchez, S., Macgregor-Fors, I. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Birds, Bats
The Effect of Wind Power on Birds and Bats - A Synthesis Rydell, J., Engstrom, H., Hedenstrom, A. Report Wind Energy Attraction, Avoidance, Collision, Displacement, Habitat Change Bats, Birds
Topography drives migratory flight altitude of golden eagles: implications for on-shore wind energy development Katzner, T., Brandes, D., Miller, T. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Habitat Change, Collision Birds
Scoping Study For Offshore Wave Energy Development In Scottish Waters Davies, I., Gubbins, M., Watret, R. Report Marine Energy, Wave Avoidance, Collision, Displacement, Habitat Change, Noise Birds, Seabirds, Invertebrates, Marine Mammals, Human Dimensions, Fisheries, Legal & Policy, Marine Spatial Planning, Navigation, Recreation & Tourism, Social & Economic Data, Stakeholder Engagement, Visual Impacts
Scoping study for tidal stream energy development in Scottish waters Davies, I., Gubbins, M., Watret, R. Report Marine Energy, Tidal Avoidance, Collision, Displacement, Habitat Change, Noise Birds, Seabirds, Fish, Invertebrates, Marine Mammals, Human Dimensions, Fisheries, Legal & Policy, Marine Spatial Planning, Navigation, Recreation & Tourism, Social & Economic Data, Stakeholder Engagement, Visual Impacts
Visual Fields, Foraging and Collision Vulnerability in Gyps Vultures Martin, G., Portugal, S., Murn, C. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Raptors, Birds
Synthesis of Wind Energy Development and Potential Impacts on Wildlife in the Pacific Northwest, Oregon and Washington Mockrin, M., Gravenmier, R. Report Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Habitat Change, Collision
Annex I: Movements and Diving Behaviour of Juvenile Grey Seals in Areas of High Tidal Energy Thompson, D. Report Marine Energy, Tidal Collision Marine Mammals, Pinnipeds
Building Capacity for Marine Hydrokinetic Energy: Atlas of Potential Synergistic and Conflicting Environmental, Ecological, and Human Use Considerations Dubbs, L., Voss, C., Von Korff, B. Report Marine Energy, Ocean Current, Tidal, Wave Chemicals, Collision, EMF, Entanglement, Habitat Change, Noise Birds, Fish, Marine Mammals, Reptiles, Human Dimensions
Fixing wind power's bat problem Kumagai, J. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Bats
Using a Shore Bird (Red Knot) Fitted with Geolocators to Evaluate a Conceptual Risk Model Focusing on Offshore Wind Burger, J., Niles, L., Porter, R. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Collision Shorebirds, Birds
Seabirds & Offshore Wind Farms Monitoring Results 2011 Vanermen, N., Stienen, E., Onkelinx, T. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Collision, Habitat Change Birds
Bat Fatalities at Wind Farms in Northern Spain - Lessons to be Learned Camina, A. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Bats
Cumulative Effects of Wind Farms in the Dutch North Sea on Bird Populations Poot, M., van Horssen, P., Collier, M. Conference Paper Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Avoidance, Collision, Displacement Birds
Report of the IWG on Wind Turbines and Bat Populations 2012 Rodrigues, L. Conference Paper Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision, Habitat Change Bats
The BIO-acoustic feature extraction and classification of bat echolocation calls Mirzaei, G., Majid, M., Ross, J. Conference Paper Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Bats
Assessing the Impact of Marine Wind Farms on Birds through Movement Modelling Masden, E., Reeve, R., Desholm, M. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Avoidance, Collision Birds
Pre-Construction Avian and Bat Survey Report Tetra Tech Inc. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Attraction, Avoidance, Collision, Habitat Change Bats, Birds, Physical Environment
Development of a Cost Minimizing Strategy to Mitigate Bird Mortalities in a Wind Farm Singh, K. Thesis Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Collision Birds
A Review of Flight Heights and Avoidance Rates of Birds in Relation to Offshore Wind Farms Cook, A., Johnson, A., Wright, L. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Collision, Avoidance Birds
An Estimate of Avian Mortality at Communication Towers in the United States and Canada Longcore, T., Rich, C., Mineau, P. Journal Article Collision Birds
Testing an Emerging Paradigm in Migration Ecology Shows Surprising Differences in Efficiency between Flight Modes Duerr, A., Miller, T., Lanzone, M. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Birds, Raptors
Biglow Canyon Wind Farm – Phase III - Year 1 Avian and Bat Monitoring Report Enk, T., Bay, K., Sonnenberg, M. Report Collision Bats, Birds
Beatrice Offshore Wind Farm Environmental Statement Section 13: Wind Farm Ornithology Arcus Consultancy Services Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Attraction, Avoidance, Collision, Displacement, Lighting, Noise Birds, Human Dimensions, Environmental Impact Assessment
2011 Post-Construction Monitoring Study Criterion Wind Project Garrett County, Maryland Young, D., Lout, M., Courage, Z. Report Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Birds, Bats
Displaying 1201 - 1240 of 1586 results