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Collision

Birds flying past a wind turbine farm
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: 1656

Title Author Date Content Type Technology Stressor Receptor
Task Force on Sustainable Tidal Energy Development in the Bay of Fundy: Final Report Fisheries and Oceans Canada Report Marine Energy, Tidal Collision Fish, Human Dimensions
Geese migrating over the Pacific Ocean select altitudes coinciding with offshore wind turbine blades Weiser, E., Overton, C., Douglas, D. Journal Article Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Collision Birds, Waterfowl
Prospective modelling of operational offshore wind farms on the distribution of marine megafauna in the southern North Sea Virgili, A., Laran, S., Authier, M. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Avoidance, Collision Birds, Seabirds, Marine Mammals, Cetaceans
Wind Farms and Power Lines Reduced the Territory Status and Probability of Fledgling Production in the Eurasian Goshawk Accipiter gentilis Husby, M. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Avoidance, Collision, Noise Birds, Raptors
Probability of Atlantic salmon post-smolts encountering a tidal turbine installation in Minas Passage, Bay of Fundy Sanderson, B., Karsten, R., Hasselman, D. Presentation Marine Energy, Tidal Collision Fish, Pelagic Fish
Predicting the probability of encounter between fish species and tidal stream energy devices using acoustic telemetry Bangley, C., Hasselman, D., Culina, J. Conference Paper Marine Energy, Tidal Collision Fish
From Science to Consenting: Applying Environmental Effects Information to Support Regulatory Decision-Making Freeman, M., Copping, A., Rose, D. Presentation Marine Energy Collision, EMF, Entanglement, Habitat Change, Noise Human Dimensions, Legal & Policy
Improving Understanding of Environmental Effects from Single MRE Devices to Arrays Hasselman, D., Hemery, L., Copping, A. Conference Paper Marine Energy, Tidal, Wave Changes in Flow, Collision, Displacement, EMF, Entanglement, Habitat Change, Noise
Does size matter? Investigation of the effect of wind turbine size on bird and bat mortality Garvin, J., Simonis, J., Taylor, J. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Bats, Birds
Integrated Science Plan for Offshore Wind, Wildlife, and Habitat in U.S. Atlantic Waters Regional Wildlife Science Collaborative for Offshore Wind (RWSC) Webpage Wind Energy Attraction, Avoidance, Collision, Entanglement, Noise, Vessel Strike Bats, Birds, Ecosystem Processes, Fish, Marine Mammals, Physical Environment, Reptiles, Sea Turtles
Geographic source of bats killed at wind-energy facilities in the eastern United States Wieringa, J., Nagel, J., Campbell, C. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Bats
NextWind: Advancing Wind Energy Technology Using Real-Time Monitoring Systems in a Digital Twin Application Siddiqi, K., Kramer, S., Schneider, S. Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Attraction, Avoidance, Collision, EMF, Habitat Change Birds, Seabirds, Fish, Invertebrates, Marine Mammals, Human Dimensions, Social & Economic Data
Post-construction Monitoring Study for the California Ridge Wind Farm Champaign and Vermilion Counties, Illinois DuBridge, K., Wilson, G., Ritzert, J. Report Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Bats, Birds
Post-Construction Monitoring Study for the Crescent Wind Project Hillsdale County, Michigan Fritchman, C., Ciecka, A., Pickle, J. Report Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Bats, Birds
Localized Eco-Climatic Impacts of Onshore Wind Farms: A Review Ze, J., Xiuchun, Y., Ang, C. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision, Habitat Change Bats, Birds, Physical Environment
Approach Distances of Scottish Golden Eagles Aquila chrysaetos to Wind Turbines According to Blade Motion Status, Wind Speed, and Preferred Habitat Fielding, A., Anderson, D., Benn, S. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Avoidance, Collision Birds, Raptors
Behavioural responses of Sandwich terns following the construction of offshore wind farms Thaxter, C., Green, R., Collier, M. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Avoidance, Collision, Displacement Birds, Seabirds
Shetland Tidal Array Project Environmental Monitoring Plan (PEMP) Smith, K. Report Marine Energy, Tidal Chemicals, Collision, Habitat Change Birds, Seabirds, Fish, Marine Mammals
The geographic extent of bird populations affected by renewable-energy development Vander Zanden, H., Nelson, D., Conkling, T. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision
Experimental trials of species-specific bat flight responses to an ultrasonic deterrent Fritts, S., Guest, E., Weaver, S. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Bats
Spatial and temporal dynamics of bird movement over the North Sea van Erp, J., Shamoun-Baranes, J. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Collision, Displacement Birds, Seabirds, Human Dimensions, Environmental Impact Assessment
Die Auswirkungen von Windenergieanlagen an Waldstandorten auf Fledermäuse Voigt, C., Scholz, C., Ellerbrok, J. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Bats
Long-term impacts of the Smøla wind farm on a local population of white-tailed eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla) Stokke, B., Dahl, E., Kleven, O. Report Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision, Displacement Birds, Raptors
Fine-scale collision risk mapping and validation with long-term mortality data reveal current and future wind energy development impact on sensitive species Morant, J., Arrondo, E., Zapata, J. Journal Article Wind Energy Collision Human Dimensions, Marine Spatial Planning
Environmental Effects Monitoring Program Annual Report 2023 Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy (FORCE) Marine Energy, Tidal Attraction, Avoidance, Collision, Displacement, EMF, Entanglement, Habitat Change, Noise Birds, Seabirds, Fish, Invertebrates, Marine Mammals
Utilizing high-resolution genetic markers to track population-level exposure of migratory birds to renewable energy development Harrigan, R., Rajbhandary, J., Bossu, C. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Birds
Ectoparasitism and Energy Infrastructure Limit Survival of Preadult Golden Eagles in the Southern Great Plains Murphy, R., Millsap, B., Stahlecker, D. Journal Article Wind Energy Collision, Habitat Change Birds
Numbers of wildlife fatalities at renewable energy facilities in a targeted development region Conkling, T., Fesnock, A., Katzner, T. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Bats, Birds
‘Scaling up’ our understanding of environmental effects of marine renewable energy development from single devices to large-scale commercial arrays Hasselman, D., Hemery, L., Copping, A. Journal Article Marine Energy Collision, Displacement, EMF, Entanglement, Habitat Change, Noise
Understanding fatality patterns and sex ratios of Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) at wind energy facilities in western California and Texas LiCari, S., Hale, A., Weaver, S. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Bats
Wind farms and Griffon Vultures: Evidence that under certain conditions history is not-always turbulent Farfan, M., Díaz-Ruiz, F., Duarte, J. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision, Displacement Birds, Raptors
Grand Challenges Revisited: Wind Energy Research Needs for a Global Energy Transition Veers, P., Dykes, K., Baranowski, R. Report Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Collision, Noise Bats, Birds, Physical Environment, Human Dimensions, Social & Economic Data, Stakeholder Engagement, Visual Impacts
Mitigation measures for preventing collision of birds with wind turbines Garcia-Rosa, P., Tande, J. Conference Paper Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Birds
Exploration of potential collaboration on preventive, mitigation and compensation measures van der Kamp, M., Brekelmans, M., Verweij, L. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Collision, Habitat Change, Noise Bats, Birds, Marine Mammals, Human Dimensions, Legal & Policy, Marine Spatial Planning
Incidental eagle carcass detection can contribute to fatality estimation at operating wind energy facilities Hallingstad, E., Riser-Espinoza, D., Brown, S. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Birds, Raptors, Human Dimensions
Bioseco Pilot Study Results Report Camera-Based Anti-Collision System Species Protection Assessment Clausen, E., Welcker, J., Liesenjohann, T. Report Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Birds
Disentangling mechanisms responsible for wind energy effects on European bats Leroux, C., Le Viol, I., Valet, N. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Bats
Validation of the bird migration prediction model Kraal, J., Krijgsveld, K., Japink, M. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Collision Birds
A Probabilistic Methodology for Determining Collision Risk of Marine Animals with Tidal Energy Turbines Copping, A., Hasselman, D., Bangley, C. Journal Article Marine Energy, Tidal Collision Birds, Seabirds, Fish, Demersal Fish, Pelagic Fish, Marine Mammals, Human Dimensions, Environmental Impact Assessment
Quantifying conditional probabilities of fish-turbine encounters and impacts Peraza, J., Horne, J. Journal Article Marine Energy, Tidal Collision Fish

Displaying 241 - 280 of 1656 results