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The construction and operation of a wind farm will have some local impact to the natural environment, but the specific impacts are site specific. Effects can include avian (bird), bat, and other wildlife activity. Some of the following documents are available as Adobe Acrobat PDFs. Download Adobe Reader.
Birds
Largely because of the unique circumstances and experiences surrounding one region in Northern California with significant wind energy development in the 1980s, wind power proponents now conduct wildlife (and particularly avian) studies as a regular part of screening sites for development. Earlier generations of wind turbines were smaller and located close together. They were mounted on lattice towers and had rapidly spinning blades. These wind turbines were located in great numbers in the Altamont Pass, an area of rolling grassland home to a substantial population of raptors. A high number of bird kills resulted. Wind technology has advanced substantially since the 1980s. Today's larger turbines have wider spacing, more slowly spinning blades, and are mounted on tubular towers. Nonetheless, wind turbines, like all manmade structures, do have the potential to impact birds and/or bats. Careful selection of development sites avoids placement in particularly sensitive locations, and for well-sited wind projects, avian impacts can be minimal including relative to other sources of avian collision. The National Wind Coordinating Committee has published a number of reports discussing bird interaction with wind turbines.
- Wildlife Workshop
- Wind Turbine Interactions with Birds and Bats: A Summary of Research Results and Remaining Questions (PDF 235 KB). (November 2004).
- Avian Collisions with Wind Turbines: A Summary of Existing Studies and Comparisons to Other Sources of Avian Collision Mortality in the United States (PDF 2.8 MB).
(August 2001).
- Studying Wind Energy/Bird Interactions: A Guidance Document (PDF 625 KB).
(December 1999).
- Addendum to: Studying Wind Energy/Bird Interactions: A Guidance Document (PDF 45 KB). (August 2003).
Still, in the forefront of discussions around the environmental impacts of wind energy projects is the interaction of wind farms with birds of particular concern to wildlife agencies: migrating and endangered species. As a result of this concern and their role in protecting this wildlife, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) issued interim guidelines on May 13, 2003 regarding the development of wind energy projects and compliance with the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA).
The wind industry and the USFWS have reviewed and commented on these guidelines, and such discussions are ongoing.
- AWEA Comments on Interim USFWS Wind/Wildlife Guidelines (PDF 232 KB)
- Meeting minutes from a November 2004 meeting between wind industry representatives, wind energy users, environmental advocates, and the USFWS provide an excellent overview of the constraints associated with the ESA and MBTA, the issues of concern to the wind industry, and the perspective of the USFWS. Meeting Notes New England Wind Energy Impact Meeting November 30, 2004, USFWS Field Office Concord, New Hampshire (PDF 147 KB).
Bats
Similar attention is now being given to the impact of wind farms on bats. Until recently, no material impacts on bat communities from wind power installations had been observed. However, an incident in which a fairly substantial number of bat fatalities occurred at the site of a West Virginia wind farm has stimulated substantial attention to understanding and mitigating potential impacts to bats. Little is currently known about bat interaction with wind turbines, and both industry and wildlife organizations have been collaborating on studying and understanding how bats interact with wind turbines. The issue is continuing to become a focus in the permitting process of wind farms in areas where bats are known to exist. A forthcoming study to develop bat fatality search protocols and evaluate bat interactions with wind turbines in West Virginia and Pennsylvania will provide insight into this area. The interim report is available. General information specifically on bats and wind turbines can be found at the Bat Conservation International, Inc. Web site.
Proceedings of a comprehensive two-day workshop on wind energy, birds, and bats co-sponsored by the American Bird Conservancy (ABC) and the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) in Washington, D.C., in May 2004 can be found at: Wind Energy and Birds/Bats Workshop Proceedings.
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