The distribution of breeding birds around upland wind farms

Summary 1. There is an urgent need for climate change mitigation, of which the promotion of renewable energy, such as from wind farms, is an important component. Birds are expected to be sensitive to wind farms, although effects vary between sites and species. Using data from 12 upland wind farms in the UK, we examine whether there is reduced occurrence of breeding birds close to wind farm infrastructure (turbines, access tracks and overhead transmission lines). To our knowledge, this is the first such multi-site comparison examining wind farm effects on the distribution of breeding birds. 2. Bird distribution was assessed using regular surveys during the breeding season. We took a conservative analytical approach, with bird occurrence modelled as a function of habitat, before examining the additional effects of wind farm proximity. 3. Seven of the 12 species studied exhibited significantly lower frequencies of occurrence close to the turbines, after accounting for habitat variation, with equivocal evidence of turbine avoidance in a further two. No species were more likely to occur close to the turbines. There was no evidence that raptors altered flight height close to turbines. Turbines were avoided more strongly than tracks, whilst there was no evidence for consistent avoidance of overhead transmission lines connecting sites to the national grid. 4. Levels of turbine avoidance suggest breeding bird densities may be reduced within a 500-m buffer of the turbines by 15-53%, with buzzard Buteo buteo, hen harrier Circus cyaneus, golden plover Pluvialis apricaria, snipe Gallinago gallinago, curlew Numenius arquata and wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe most affected. 5. Despite being a correlative study, with potential for Type I error, we failed to detect any systematic bias in our likelihood of detecting significant effects. 6. Synthesis and applications. This provides the first evidence for consistent and significant effects of wind farms on a range of upland bird species, emphasizing the need for a strategic approach to ensure such development avoids areas with high densities of potentially vulnerable species. Our results reduce the uncertainty over the magnitude of such effects, and will improve future environmental impacts assessments

Reconciling Biodiversity Conservation and Widespread Deployment of Renewable Energy Technologies in the UK.

Renewable energy will potentially make an important contribution towards the dual aims of meeting carbon emission reduction targets and future energy demand. However, some technologies have considerable potential to impact on the biodiversity of the environments in which they are placed. In this study, an assessment was undertaken of the realistic deployment potential of a range of renewable energy technologies in the UK, considering constraints imposed by biodiversity conservation priorities. We focused on those energy sources that have the potential to make important energy contributions but which might conflict with biodiversity conservation objectives. These included field-scale solar, bioenergy crops, wind energy (both onshore and offshore), wave and tidal stream energy. The spatially-explicit analysis considered the potential opportunity available for each technology, at various levels of ecological risk. The resultant maps highlight the energy resource available, physical and policy constraints to deployment, and ecological sensitivity (based on the distribution of protected areas and sensitive species). If the technologies are restricted to areas which currently appear not to have significant ecological constraints, the total potential energy output from these energy sources was estimated to be in the region of 5,547 TWh/yr. This would be sufficient to meet projected energy demand in the UK, and help to achieve carbon reduction targets. However, we highlight two important caveats. First, further ecological monitoring and surveillance is required to improve understanding of wildlife distributions and therefore potential impacts of utilising these energy sources. This is likely to reduce the total energy available, especially at sea. Second, some of the technologies under investigation are currently not deployed commercially. Consequently this potential energy will only be available if continued effort is put into developing these energy sources/technologies, to enable realisation of their full potential

Opportunity and constraint mapping for wave energy.

<p>A) Opportunity map for wave energy developments (light green is prime opportunity, mid-green is good opportunity and dark green is technical opportunity showing physical constraints (red areas) and policy constraints (from level 1, least constrained, in light yellow, to level 3, most constrained, in brown); B) ecological sensitivity map for wave energy showing high sensitivity (purple areas), medium sensitivity (blue areas) and low/unknown sensitivity (green areas); and C) composite map showing remaining areas of opportunity for wave energy developments with low/unknown ecological sensitivity after all constraints have been applied (green areas).</p

Combined map of areas of residual opportunity for renewable energy technologies in the UK.

<p>Remaining land and areas available for exploitation after all constraints (physical, policy and ecological) have been removed. Areas available for onshore wind energy are shown in blue, bioenergy or solar in green and solar only in red.</p

Estimated energy available through the deployment of offshore renewable energy technologies in the UK.

<p>Estimated sea areas available for the deployment of commercial-scale offshore wind, wave and tidal energy; potential installed capacity and annual energy outputs considering the available resource, physical constraints, policy constraints and ecological sensitivity.</p

Estimated energy available through the deployment of onshore renewable energy technologies in the UK at low, medium and high risk of ecological impacts.

<p>Land areas available for the deployment of commercial-scale onshore wind, solar and biomass energy; potential installed capacity and annual energy outputs considering the available resource after physical and policy constraints are applied.</p

Opportunity and constraint mapping for floating offshore wind energy.

<p>A) Opportunity map for floating offshore wind developments (light green is prime opportunity, mid-green is good opportunity and dark green is technical opportunity showing physical constraints (red areas) and policy constraints (from level 1, least constrained, in light yellow, to level 3, most constrained, in brown); B) ecological sensitivity map for offshore wind energy showing high sensitivity (purple areas), medium sensitivity (blue areas) and low/unknown sensitivity (green areas); and C) composite map showing remaining areas of opportunity for floating offshore wind turbines with low/unknown ecological sensitivity after all constraints have been applied (green areas).</p

Estimated proportions of the UK with different ecological sensitivities to ‘medium risk’ renewable technologies.

<p>A) Proportion of UK land area of low/unknown, medium and high sensitivity to onshore wind energy; B) proportion of UK land area of low/unknown, medium and high sensitivity to bioenergy or solar farms; C) proportion of UK sea area of low/unknown, medium and high sensitivity to offshore wind energy; D) proportion of UK sea area of low/unknown, medium and high sensitivity to tidal energy; and E) proportion of UK sea area of low/unknown, medium and high sensitivity to wave energy technologies.</p

Opportunity and constraint mapping for bioenergy crops.

<p>A) Opportunity map for bioenergy crops in the UK (green areas) showing physical constraints (red areas) and policy constraints (yellow areas); B) ecological sensitivity map for bioenergy showing high sensitivity (purple areas), medium sensitivity (blue areas) and low/unknown sensitivity (green areas); and C) composite map showing remaining areas of opportunity for bioenergy crops with low/unknown ecological sensitivity after all constraints have been applied (green areas).</p

Opportunity and constraint mapping for fixed-base offshore wind energy.

<p>A) Opportunity map for fixed-base offshore wind developments (light green is prime opportunity, mid-green is good opportunity and dark green is technical opportunity showing physical constraints (red areas) and policy constraints (from level 1, least constrained, in light yellow, to level 3, most constrained, in brown); B) ecological sensitivity map for offshore wind energy showing high sensitivity (purple areas), medium sensitivity (blue areas) and low/unknown sensitivity (green areas); and C) composite map showing remaining areas of opportunity for fixed-base offshore wind turbines with low/unknown ecological sensitivity after all constraints have been applied (green areas).</p