Workshop: Wind Farms and Bird Collisions Workshop
| Organized by: |
|
Rafael Villegas, Jan Blew, Debbie Hahn |
| Contact: |
|
Rafael Villegas |
| Date & Time: |
|
Tuesday, 3 October, 09:00-18:00 |
| Location: |
|
Universidad Veracruzana |
Introduction: The available evidence suggests that appropriately positioned wind farms do not pose a significant hazard for birds. However, evidence from the US and Spain confirms that poorly sited wind farms can cause severe problems for birds, through disturbance, habitat loss/damage or collision with turbines. All wind farms must be subject to rigorous environmental assessment before development is permitted and that the effects of any approved developments are monitored before and after construction. To ensure that future wind farms do not affect sensitive bird populations or their habitats, is necessary more research and monitoring of the effects of these developments on birds. This session is a first step towards in Mexico. Information on the current state of wind energy technology, and the sequential steps typically implemented in wind energy development, and the best available studies will be presented. Future directions in wind energy development will be discussed as will methods to establish and sustain dialogue between utilities. Wind energy discussion to date has focused largely on the United States, Canada and Europe. We intend to broaden the discussion to include Latin American countries.
The meeting, the Wind Farms and Bird Collisions Workshop, will be held in Veracruz, in October 2006. These Workshop proceedings will provide an overview of the current state of the wind industry in Europe, USA and Canada (siting considerations, and environmental assessment standards), research methods and results of bird and wind farms regulation. The organizers of the Wind farms and Birds collisions Workshop hope this workshop can be publish because will be useful to the academic community, managers, and the public involved in wind development projects in Mexico.
Objectives of the Meeting: The purpose of the Wind farms and Birds collision Workshop will be to examine the best data on wind farms impacts on birds and the mitigation measures that are and have to be employed to minimize or prevent such impacts. This workshop will intend to facilitate discussion of:
- Wind farms development status and potential, including strategies and techniques employed to date to mitigate impacts on birds in Europe, Canada and USA;
- Wind farms avian risk evaluation methodologies; radar use in Wind farms
- Measures that can be taken to prevent/minimize impacts to birds
- Guidelines and regulations for the siting, construction and operation of wind farms facilities in Mexico.
Program:
| 9:00 am |
|
Registration |
| 9:30 am |
|
Convene session
Welcome, introductions of Director of Instituto de Ecología AC.
Miguel Equihua Zamora |
| 9:40 am |
|
Wind Farms and Birds: a European perspective
Rowena Langston |
| 10:00 am |
|
The science of wind/bird interactions
Mark Desholm |
| 10:20 am |
|
Collision risks-Data and data requirements in onshore and offshore wind farms
Jan Blew |
| 10:40 am |
|
Break |
| 11:00 am |
|
Designing nocturnal bird migration studies for proposed wind energy developments
Todd Mabee |
| 11:20 am |
|
Efforts to characterize and minimize adverse impacts on avifauna due to wind energy development
Steve Ugoretz/Debbie Hanm |
| 11:40 am |
|
Radar and thermal imaging techniques for assessing the environmental risks of wind development
Sid Gauthreaux Jr. |
| 12:00 Noon |
|
Lunch |
| 14:00 pm |
|
Raptor migration and large scale wind power generation in Mexico: potential impact in a bottleneck migratory route
Rafael Villegas-Patraca |
| 14:20 pm |
|
Potential sites of large scale wind power generation in Mexico
Ricardo Saldaña/Marco A. Borja |
| 14:40 pm |
|
Wind Energy and Birds: the Canadian Perspective
Charles M. Francis/Mélanie Cousineau |
| 15:00-17:30 pm |
|
Round table Tools, guidelines, mitigation measures |
Abstracts:
- Wind Farms and Birds: a European perspective
Dr Rowena H. W. Langston Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire SG19 2DL, UK
The European Union (EU) has a target of 12% renewable energy for domestic consumption by 2010. Wind energy is a major contributor to the target. By the end of 2005, there was estimated to be over 40,000MW (40GW) of installed wind energy capacity in Europe. Germany and Spain together are responsible for nearly three quarters of this total. Denmark and the UK have contributed a considerable part of the rest; 20% of Denmark’s electricity is from wind power.
In the EU member states, there is a strong legislative framework to safeguard priority sites for nature conservation. However, environmental assessments are variable in quality, and there are inconsistencies in decision making. This presentation will outline some of the UK approaches to conflict resolution.
The location of a wind farm is the single most important factor in governing the likelihood of adverse impacts. The RSPB and the government nature conservation agency for Scotland are working on a pilot project to develop a sensitivity map, based on known bird distributions, and drawing on the published science literature to develop sensitivity criteria for a suite of bird species of conservation importance. The provisional map is already being used in the development of regional strategic plans.
Many uncertainties remain as to the actual impacts of wind farms on birds. The RSPB and the Norwegian Institute of Nature Research (NINA), are collaborating in a study of flight behaviour and collision risk factors associated with White-tailed Eagles Haliaeetus albicilla, at the Smøla wind farm in Norway. Some preliminary results will be presented.
- Radar and thermal imaging techniques for assessing the environmental risks of wind development.
Sidney A. Gauthreaux, Jr. and Carroll G. Belser, Clemson University Radar Ornithology Laboratory, Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, 29634-0314.
Because the greatest amount of passerine bird migration occurs at night, special remote sensing techniques must be used to monitor the quantity of bird migration at different altitudes passing over a proposed wind development site. Two techniques have proven to be very useful for this task--high resolution radar and thermal imaging. Off-the-shelf marine radar (25kW or more powerful) can be used in a horizontal surveillance mode to determine the flight directions of migrating birds, and the radar can be operated in a vertical scan mode to determine the altitudinal distribution of the migrants. Marine radars with parabolic dish antennas instead of the open array (t-bar) antenna can measure both the flight direction and the altitudinal distribution of individual migrants passing over a project site. On these systems raw radar data are first digitized and then processed with sophisticated algorithms to produce information on target reflectivity, size, track, etc. The data are output to databases for additional analysis. Thermal imaging can be used to identify the sources of the radar targets. Thermal imaging cameras can be used in several different surveillance modes, but when used with a vertically-pointing, fixed-beam radar, accurate computations of migration traffic rate (the number of birds crossing a mile of front per hour) for altitudes above 30 m are possible. With the latter approach one can determine the relative amount of bird migration in different altitudinal bands (e.g., within turbine strike zone, above turbine strike zone) and discriminate the types of targets (migrating bird/bat, foraging bat, insect)
- Designing nocturnal bird migration studies for proposed wind energy developments.
Mabee, T. J., J. H. Plissner, B. A. Cooper, R. H. Day, and A. Prichard. ABR Inc. Environmental Research and Services, Forest Grove, Oregon, USA and ABR Inc. Environmental Research and Services, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA. Phone: (503) 359-7525. Todd Mabee will present the material in English.
The construction of wind energy developments throughout North America has increased markedly over the last decade and has raised concern over the potential impacts to birds. Assessing avian use, particularly during nocturnal migration, at proposed developments has often been conducted using mobile radars. Designing robust studies of migration can be challenging because patterns of migration often vary both spatially and temporally. To date, no published studies exist that evaluate the influence of study design and sampling intensity on the passage rate and altitude metrics of these studies. We addressed these questions with data from six nocturnal migration studies conducted during spring or fall migration in the Eastern US. We examined the relationship between two study designs (sampling consecutive or alternating nights) and three temporal levels of sampling intensity (i.e., seasonal, nightly, hourly) during migration to assess how the accuracy of nocturnal migration metrics (i.e., passage rates and flight altitudes) varies with the different combinations of study design and sampling intensity. Results will be presented so that researchers can select a combination of study design and sampling intensity to achieve desired levels of precision for migration metrics.
- Efforts to characterize and minimize adverse impacts on avifauna due to wind energy development
Steve Urogetz
Since they first were reported in California, USA, researchers and regulators have been trying to measure and reduce the adverse impacts on birds (and bats) due to collisions and behavioral interactions with wind energy facilities. The US Department of Energy was an early sponsor of these efforts, convening a workshop in 1994 to analyze the issues and promote solutions. As a result, the DOE formed the Wildlife Working Group of the National Wind Coordinating Committee which attempts to share information and focus attention on addressing these effects. The industry itself has invested significant money in studies of mortality and other interactions in many locations. However, definitive answers still elude us, regarding the vulnerabilities of different bird groups, contributing factors, and effective measures to reduce these effects. It is hoped that continuing efforts to define the causes of these impacts will eventually lead to effective measures that can be applied worldwide.
- Raptor Migration and Large Scale Wind Power Generation in Mexico: Potential Impact in a Bottleneck Migratory Route in the South Of Mexico.
Villegas-Patraca, Rafael; Equihua, Miguel ; Alducin, Gerson; Montejo, Joge; Mc Andrews, Amy
Instituto de Ecologia AC. Departamento de Ecologia Aplicada, Km 2.5 carretera antigua a Coatepec, congregacion el haya,codigo postal 91070 Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico.
Conflicts between bird conservation and other human interests may arise in a variety of situations. Technological advancements and progress at large may conflict with maintenance of bird migration. Wind-farms as a form of alternative energy sources may create problems for some bird species. The impact of wind farms on wildlife is worth mention as the wind industry well knows there have been some disastrous consequences for wildlife. In Mexico this technology is new. Several foreign companies will develop the largest wind-farms in Latin-American in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Oaxaca, Mexico. Surveys in the last three fall bird migratory season more than 5 millions of migratory raptors mainly Turkey vulture, Swainson hawk and broadwing hawk with a maximum of 70 m flying high were found around the potential site for the wind-farm corridor. There is a potential high risk that birds will collide with the wind turbines of 90 m high in operation because this area is one of the most important bird migration routes in the world. It can affect population of migrant birds that over-flies the turbines area. This study will provide information of potential risk of birds collision.
- Wind Energy and Birds: the Canadian Perspective
Charles M. Francis, Mélanie Cousineau and Martin Damus, Canadian Wildlife Service
The Canadian economic, political, legal and cultural contexts have contributed to the approach taken by Canada to address the issue of the impacts of wind energy on wildlife. In an effort to reduce Canadian greenhouse gas emissions, the federal government has given high endorsement to wind as a source of renewable energy. With the 2001 budget came the announcement of the Wind Power Production Incentive, a $ 260 million federal incentive programme that has greatly contributed to shaping the Canadian renewable energy landscape. Under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, all projects which receive federal government financial support are subject to an environmental assessment, a situation that has led to significant involvement from the Canadian Wildlife Service of Environment Canada. Environment Canada has released the document “Wind Turbines and Birds: A Guidance Document for Environmental Assessment”, designed to be used as a pre-assessment tool to identify site and design features to minimise impacts on birds, as well as an environmental assessment guide to be used in conjunction with advice from the Canadian Wildlife Service. The guide uses site sensitivity and facility size to rank the proposed project into a project category that indicates the relative level of risk to birds, and suggests what effort is likely to be anticipated in determining and mitigating potential adverse effects to birds. The guide also provides information on assessing cumulative effects. This presentation will summarize the current Canadian situation relative to the development of wind energy and its impacts on birds and bats. Political and legal aspects of the environmental assessment procedure for wind energy projects will be discussed, as well as the approach taken by the Environment Canada’s Canadian Wildlife Service to address the issue of wildlife impacts from wind energy and alleviate or minimise the risks that wind energy development poses to wildlife. The context at the provincial and territorial levels will also be discussed, and some initiatives to enhance the current knowledge of the issue will be presented.
TOP | PRIVACY POLICY | COPYRIGHT © 2005 NAOC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
