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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: 1656

Title Author Date Content Type Technology Stressor Receptor
EolPop, a R-shiny tool for quantifying the demographic impact of species exposed to fatalities: Application to bird collisions with wind turbines Chambert, T., Duriez, O., Deleaux, M. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Birds, Passerines, Human Dimensions, Environmental Impact Assessment
Automated Detection and Tracking of Marine Mammals in the Vicinity of Tidal Turbines Using Multibeam Sonar Gillespie, D., Hastie, G., Montabaranom, J. Journal Article Marine Energy, Tidal Collision Marine Mammals
Griffon Vulture movements are concentrated around roost and supplementary feeding stations: implications for wind energy development on Mediterranean islands Cerri, J., Fozzi, I., De Rosa, D. Journal Article Wind Energy Collision Birds, Raptors
Flight heights obtained from GPS versus altimeters influence estimates of collision risk with offshore wind turbines in Lesser Black-backed Gulls Larus fuscus Johnston, D., Thaxter, C., Boersch-Supan, P. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Collision Birds, Seabirds
Understanding seabird behaviour at sea part 2: improved estimates of collision risk model parameters Cook, A., Thaxter, C., Davies, J. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Collision Birds, Seabirds
Strategic study of collision risk for birds on migration and further development of the stochastic collision risk modelling tool Woodward, I., Franks, S., Bowgen, K. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Collision Birds, Seabirds
Task Force on Sustainable Tidal Energy Development in the Bay of Fundy Interim Report Fisheries and Oceans Canada Report Marine Energy, Tidal Collision Fish, Human Dimensions, Fisheries, Legal & Policy
Consideration of avoidance behaviour of northern gannet (Morus bassanus) in collision risk modelling for offshore wind farm impact assessments (NECR512) Pavat, D., Harker, A., Humphries, G. Guidance Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Collision Birds
Detection of wind turbines rotary motion by birds: A matter of speed and contrast Blary, C., Bonadonna, F., Dussauze, E. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Birds, Passerines, Raptors
Wind turbine power and land cover effects on cumulative bat deaths Moustakas, A., Georgiakakis, P., Kret, E. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Bats
The Importance of Addressing Disagreements Between Nominal and Effective Treatments During Bat Mortality Minimization Validation Studies Clerc, J., Hein, C., Huso, M. Presentation Wind Energy Collision Bats, Human Dimensions
Quick scan of effects from large upscaling of offshore wind (part C) Quee, N. Report Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind, Fixed Offshore Wind Attraction, Collision, Habitat Change Bats, Birds, Ecosystem Processes, Fish, Invertebrates, Marine Mammals
Behavioral responses to offshore windfarms during migration of a declining shorebird species revealed by GPS-telemetry Schwemmer, P., Mercker, M., Haecker, K. Journal Article Wind Energy Collision Birds, Shorebirds, Human Dimensions, Marine Spatial Planning
Post-construction Bird and Bat Fatality Monitoring for Onshore Wind Energy Facilities in Emerging Market Countries: Good Practice Handbook and Decision Support Tool International Finance Corporation Report Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Bats, Birds, Human Dimensions
A Conditional probabilistic encounter-impact model for fish-turbine interactions Peraza, J., Horne, J. Conference Paper Marine Energy Collision
Choose Your Own Marine Energy Adventure Game: Collision Risk Hemery, L., DeGuia, B., Pratt, M. Conference Paper Marine Energy Collision Birds, Fish, Pelagic Fish, Marine Mammals
Reanalysis indicates little evidence of reduction in eagle mortality rate by automated curtailment of wind turbines Huso, M., Dalthorp, D. Journal Article Wind Energy Collision Birds, Raptors
Assessment of the impact of tidal power extraction from the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier through the evaluation of a pilot plant Fockert, A., Bijlsma, A., O'Mahoney, T. Journal Article Marine Energy, Tidal Collision, Habitat Change, Noise Fish
Towards understanding environmental and cumulative impacts of floating wind farms: Lessons learned from the fixed-bottom offshore wind farms Rezaei, F., Contestabile, P, Vicinanza, D. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Attraction, Avoidance, Collision, EMF Birds, Seabirds, Fish, Invertebrates
Assessing carcass relocation for offsetting golden eagle mortality at wind energy facilities Lonsdorf, E., Gerber, J., Ray, D. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Birds, Raptors
How effective are existing solutions to mitigate impacts of onshore wind farms on flying vertebrates and invertebrates? A Rapid Review Langridge, J., Dupuis, L., Hette-Tronquart, N. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Avoidance, Collision Bats, Birds, Invertebrates
Responses of GPS-Tagged Territorial Golden Eagles Aquila chrysaetos to Wind Turbines in Scotland Fielding, A. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Birds
Variation in flight characteristics associated with entry by eagles into rotor‐swept zones of wind turbines Rolek, B., Braham, M., Miller, T. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Birds
Bat Behavior at Commercial Wind Turbines as Revealed by 3-D Thermal Videography Aghababian, S. Thesis Wind Energy Collision Bats
Maritime Spatial Planning in Europe: Discussion Paper on the Challenges and Potential Opportunities Around the Colocation of Offshore Wind Energy with Marine Protected Areas Stephenson, P. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Attraction, Avoidance, Collision, Displacement, EMF, Entanglement, Noise Bats, Birds, Fish, Invertebrates, Marine Mammals, Human Dimensions, Fisheries, Marine Spatial Planning
Wind Energy and Insects: Reviewing the State of Knowledge and Identifying Potential Interactions Weschler, M. Thesis Wind Energy Attraction, Collision Invertebrates
Integrating Bird and Marine Mammal Monitoring into Offshore Wind Energy Development Infrastructure and Operations Courbis, S., Etter, H., Pacini, A. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Collision, Entanglement Birds, Marine Mammals
Shetland Tidal Array Monitoring Report April 2022 to July 2023 Nova Innovation Report Marine Energy, Tidal Attraction, Collision, Habitat Change Birds, Seabirds, Waterfowl, Fish, Pelagic Fish, Marine Mammals, Cetaceans, Pinnipeds
Observing fish interactions with marine energy turbines using acoustic cameras Cotter, E., Staines, G. Journal Article Marine Energy Collision Fish
Bat mortality in wind farms of southern Europe: temporal patterns and implications in the current context of climate change del Mar Salguero, M., De la Cruz, A., Munoz, A-R. Journal Article Wind Energy Collision Bats, Birds, Human Dimensions
Accelerating Offshore Wind – The Role of Innovative Technology in Decision Making and Faster Consenting ORE Catapult Report Wind Energy Collision, Noise Human Dimensions
Wind Farm Project Environmental Monitoring Programme: Moray East Offshore Wind Farm Moray Offshore Wind Farm (East) Limited Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Collision, Displacement, Habitat Change Birds, Fish, Invertebrates, Marine Mammals, Physical Environment
Spatiotemporal occurrence of bats at the southern North Sea 2017-2020 Lagerveld, S., Geelhoed, S., Wilkes, T. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Collision Bats, Human Dimensions, Legal & Policy, Marine Spatial Planning
Conspecific Carcass Removal from a Wind Project Study Plot by a Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) Bell, D., Snyder, S., Didonato, J. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Birds
Unlocking the Potential of Wind Energy With Machine Learning-Based Avian Detection: A Call to Action Principato, M., Hasselwander, L., Stangner, M. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Birds
Thermal soaring over the North Sea and implications for wind farm interactions van Erp, J., Sage, E., Bouten, W. Journal Article Wind Energy Collision Birds, Seabirds
Modeling the Spatial Distribution of Carcasses of Eagles Killed by Wind Turbines Huso, M., Dalthorp, D., Mintz, J. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Birds, Raptors
Shutting down offshore wind turbines during peak bird migration Rijkswaterstaat Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Collision Birds
Measuring Detection Efficiency of High-Residency Acoustic Signals for Estimating Probability of Fish–Turbine Encounter in a Fast-Flowing Tidal Passage Sanderson, B., Bangley, C., McGarry, L. Journal Article Marine Energy, Tidal Avoidance, Collision Fish
Sensitivity analysis of collision risk at wind turbines based on flight altitude of migratory waterbirds Kamata, T., Sato, H., Mukai, H. Journal Article Wind Energy Collision Birds, Waterfowl

Displaying 281 - 320 of 1656 results