AWWI and AWWI partners are announcing new products, solutions, and developments that wind industry and scientific and conservation stakeholders can use in the field to conserve wildlife as they plan and operate projects.
“Many years of deliberative, collaborative research are now paying increasing dividends — for both wind energy and wildlife,” said AWWI Executive Director Abby Arnold.
“AWWI thanks our many industry, scientific, and conservation partners for their tenacious commitment to science and collaboration, and for making this progress possible,” said Arnold.
This fall AWWI and AWWI partners report on at least four new solutions:
New Mitigation Tool for Eagles
The first of three new, scientifically rigorous compensatory mitigation modeling tools developed by AWWI is now publicly available for companies, permitting wildlife agencies, and scientific and conservation stakeholders to begin to implement in the field.
Publication of this new tool is the result of collaborative research led by AWWI and expands the options available to permit wind energy facilities while quantifiably conserving eagles. Read more.
Technological Innovation: What’s Out There and What Works?
A new study on the efficacy of UV Light Deterrent for raptors, published in September, inaugurates AWWI’s new Technology Verification Program to provide clear and scientifically verifiable evaluations of technologies intended to detect and/or deter wildlife at wind facilities. Read more.
Research Will Soon Be More Easily Accessible
The American Wind Wildlife Information Center (AWWIC) will soon open with an online searchable Library, as part of the AWWIC initiative to expand the availability of wind-wildlife information and the analysis of wind-wildlife data. The Library will make it easy for researchers and the public to look up existing wind-wildlife research.
“Legacy of Care” for Bats
The wind industry has adopted a voluntary protocol to reduce impacts to bats from operating wind turbines in low-wind speed conditions during the fall bat migration season, when bats are most at risk of collision, thereby minimizing loss of power productivity while maximizing the number of bats saved. The protocol is based on over 10 years of collaborative research. AWWI’s Bat Program will continue to deepen this research and further analyze potential links between high bat fatality incidents and geographic, environmental, meteorological, or other factors. Read more.
For a summary of recent research on the impacts of wind turbines on wildlife in North America, and how to avoid and minimize these impacts, see “Wind Turbine Interactions with Wildlife and their Habitats: A Summary of Research Results and Priority Questions.”
The American Wind Wildlife Institute (AWWI) is a partnership of leaders in the wind industry, wildlife management agencies, and science and environmental organizations who collaborate on a shared mission: to facilitate timely and responsible development of wind energy while protecting wildlife and wildlife habitat. We envision a future where wildlife and wind energy thrive, allowing all of us — wildlife and habitat included — to reap the climate change mitigation benefits that wind energy makes possible.