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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
Environmental Impacts of Offshore Wind Farms in the Belgian Part of the North Sea: Progressive Insights in Changing Species Distribution Patterns Informing Marine Management Degraer, S., Brabant, R., Rumes, B. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Collision, Displacement, Habitat Change Birds, Seabirds, Fish, Invertebrates, Marine Mammals, Cetaceans
Bird carcass detection from integrated trials at multiple wind farms Kitano, M., Smallwood, K. Shawn, Fukaya, K. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Birds
Environmental Impacts of Offshore Wind Farms in the Belgian Part of the North Sea: Getting ready for offshore wind farm expansion in the North Sea Degraer, S., Brabant, R., Rumes, B. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Collision, Habitat Change, Noise Birds, Seabirds, Fish, Invertebrates, Marine Mammals, Cetaceans, Physical Environment, Human Dimensions, Marine Spatial Planning
Environmental Effects Monitoring Program Annual Report 2022 Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy (FORCE) Report Marine Energy, Tidal Attraction, Avoidance, Collision, Displacement, EMF, Entanglement, Habitat Change, Noise Birds, Fish, Invertebrates, Marine Mammals
Hornsea Project Three Kittiwake Implementation and Monitoring Plan (KIMP) GeoBe Consultants, NIRAS Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Collision, Habitat Change Birds, Seabirds, Human Dimensions, Environmental Impact Assessment
Shetland Tidal Array Monitoring Report: Land based bird and mammal surveys Smith, K. Report Marine Energy, Tidal Attraction, Avoidance, Collision Birds, Seabirds, Waterfowl, Marine Mammals, Cetaceans, Pinnipeds
Greater Gippsland Offshore Wind Project Preliminary Desktop Biodiversity and Constraints assessment Botha, J., Sime, H. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Collision, Habitat Change, Noise Birds, Seabirds, Shorebirds, Waterfowl, Fish, Terrestrial Mammals, Environmental Impact Assessment, Legal & Policy, Marine Spatial Planning
Decoding Golden Eagle Movement Behavior from High-Resolution, Variable-Rate Telemetry Data Through Bayesian Filtering Sandhu, R., Tripp, C., Quon, E. Conference Paper Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Birds, Raptors
A review to inform the assessment of the risk of collision and displacement in petrels and shearwaters from offshore wind developments in Scotland Deakin, Z., Cook, A., Daunt, F. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Collision, Displacement Birds, Fish
Advanced Collision Detection and Site Monitoring for Avian and Bat Species for Offshore Wind Energy (Final Technical Report) Albertani, R., Johnston, M. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Collision Bats, Birds
Framework for assessing and mitigating the impacts of offshore wind energy development on marine birds Croll, D., Ellis, A., Adams, J. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Collision, Displacement Birds, Human Dimensions
Suivi environnemental 2022: Suivi de la mortalité - Parc éolien de la Vallée de Torfou Habert, T., Yann, M. Report Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Attraction, Avoidance, Collision, Displacement, Habitat Change Bats, Birds, Ground-Nesting Birds, Passerines, Raptors
Drone-mounted audio-visual deterrence of bats: implications for reducing aerial wildlife mortality by wind turbines Werber, Y., Hareli, G., Yinon, O. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Bats
Proceedings of the 14th Wind-Wildlife Research Meeting Johnson, K. Report Wind Energy Collision, Displacement Human Dimensions
Providing a detailed estimate of mortality using a simulation-based collision risk model Horne, N., Culloch, R., Schmitt, P. Journal Article Marine Energy, Tidal Collision Marine Mammals, Pinnipeds
A review of raptor carcass persistence trials and the practical implications for fatality estimation at wind farms Wilson, D., Hulka, S., Bennun, L. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Birds, Raptors
The species-specificity of energy landscapes for soaring birds, and its consequences for transferring suitability models across species Scacco, M., Arrondo, E., Donazar, J. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Changes in Flow, Collision Birds, Raptors
Environmental impacts on marine energy systems: collision risks for marine animals and priority species for monitoring in Brazil Silva, C., Dagola, P., Moreira, M. Journal Article Marine Energy, Tidal, Wave Collision Birds, Fish, Marine Mammals
Towards Resolving the Risk of Turbine Collision on Fish Garavelli, L., Rose, D., Staines, G. Report Marine Energy, Riverine, Tidal Collision Fish
Evidence for the effects of decommissioning man-made structures on marine ecosystems globally: a systematic map Lemasson, A., Somerfield, P., Schratzberger, M. Journal Article Marine Energy, Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Avoidance, Collision, Habitat Change Ecosystem Processes
Limited rigor in studies of raptor mortality and mitigation at wind power facilities Conkling, T., McClure, C., Cuadros, S. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Birds, Raptors
Greater Gippsland Offshore Wind Project Summary of Impacts Report Umwelt Environmental and Social Consultants Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Collision, Habitat Change, Noise, Vessel Strike Bats, Birds, Seabirds, Shorebirds, Fish, Marine Mammals, Physical Environment, Sediment Transport, Water Quality, Human Dimensions, Environmental Impact Assessment, Fisheries, Legal & Policy, Navigation, Recreation & Tourism, Social & Economic Data, Stakeholder Engagement, Visual Impacts
Bird fluxes, flight and avoidance behaviour of birds in offshore wind farm Luchterduinen Leemans, J., van Bemmelen, R., Middelveld, R. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Attraction, Avoidance, Collision Birds, Passerines, Seabirds, Waterfowl
Quantifying Raptors’ Flight Behavior to Assess Collision Risk and Avoidance Behavior to Wind Turbines Linder, A., Lyhne, H., Laubek, B. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Avoidance, Collision Birds, Raptors
The influence of small wind turbines on bat activity in Eastern Hokkaido Waki, S., Akasaka, T., Ando, S. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Bats
Potential curtailment regimes for offshore wind farms: exploring the relation between wind speed, bird migration intensity and power yield van Bemmelen, R., de Groeve, J., Potiek, A. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Collision Birds
Offshore space use of lesser black-backed gulls (Larus fuscus) from the Schiermonnikoog breeding population Sage, E., Shamoun-Baranes, J. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Avoidance, Collision Birds, Seabirds
Offshore and coastline migration of radio-tagged Nathusius' pipistrelles Bach, P., Voigt, C., Göttsche, M. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Collision Bats
Clean Energy from the Ocean: Measuring the Environmental Footprint of Devices Rose, D., Gunn, C., Hemery, L. Magazine Article Marine Energy Changes in Flow, Collision, EMF, Entanglement, Habitat Change, Noise Birds, Fish, Invertebrates, Marine Mammals, Physical Environment, Human Dimensions
Marine birds: vision-based wind turbine collision mitigation Martin, G. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Collision Birds
Significant decline of Griffon Vulture collision mortality in wind farms during 13-year of a selective turbine stopping protocol Ferrer, M., Alloing, A., Baumbush, R. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Birds, Raptors
Environmental Effects of U.S. Offshore Wind Energy Development: Compilation of Educational Research Briefs Green, R., Hein, C., Oteri, F. Summary Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Attraction, Avoidance, Collision, Displacement, EMF, Entanglement, Habitat Change, Noise, Vessel Strike Bats, Birds, Fish, Invertebrates, Marine Mammals, Physical Environment, Reptiles
Golden Eagle Nesting Territory Distribution in Wind Energy Landscapes of the Southern Great Plains Stahlecker, D., Wallace, Z., Mikesic, D. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Birds
Selecting auditory alerting stimuli for eagles on the basis of auditory evoked potentials Goller, B., Baumhardt, P., Dominguez-Villegas, E. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Birds, Raptors
International assessment of priority environmental issues for land-based and offshore wind energy development Green, R., Gill, E., Hein, C. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Avoidance, Collision, Displacement, Habitat Change, Noise Bats, Birds, Fish, Marine Mammals, Physical Environment
Operation of a tidal turbine from a moored vessel in Agate Pass, WA Bassett, C. Presentation Marine Energy, Tidal Collision, Noise Fish, Invertebrates, Human Dimensions
Event detection for avian and bat wildlife on wind turbine blades Drachnik, N. Thesis Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Bats, Birds
Vulnerability of pelagic seabirds to the introduction of offshore renewable energy infrastructure off the Irish coast Murphy, E., Jessopp, M. Research Study Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind Avoidance, Collision, Displacement, Habitat Change Birds, Seabirds
Curtailment as a successful method for reducing bat mortality at a southern Australian wind farm Bennett, E., Florent, S., Venosta, M. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision Bats, Human Dimensions, Legal & Policy
National-scale impacts on wind energy production under curtailment scenarios to reduce bat fatalities Maclaurin, G., Hein, C., Williams, T. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Collision, Displacement Bats, Human Dimensions, Social & Economic Data

Displaying 361 - 400 of 1656 results