Wildlife, like bats, birds, and whales, live in specific habitats where they thrive, and each species plays a unique and important role in nature. Bats, for example, eat bugs that are destructive to agriculture and pollinate more than 700 plants, many of which humans used for food and medicine. Whales help maintain a stable food chain and help to assure certain animal species don’t overpopulate the ocean.

But wind technologies, such as spinning turbine blades, pose risks to nearby wildlife. The Department of Energy’s Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO)—while focused on advancing wind energy production—is committed to protecting wildlife populations from harm.

Technologies to track wildlife behavior

PNNL wind researchers are helping WETO meet its goal by deploying a variety of technologies and resources related to wildlife patterns and behaviors. For example, radio frequency tags and transmitters track bird and bat behavior. These tracking data help wind energy developers make informed decisions about the siting of wind plant operations and also shorten environmental permitting time.

Another technology developed by PNNL engineers, called ThermalTracker, is an open source software that allows continuous monitoring of birds and bats at remote offshore wind locations. ThermalTracker provides three-dimensional views of bird and bat flight patterns in daylight, nighttime, and limited visibility conditions, gleaning data about flight altitude and range as well as the physical attributes of species. Data obtained from this software provide information that wind plant developers and operators need to make well-informed technology investments.

Another resource helping to speed deployment of offshore wind plants is a database called Tethys. Within Tethys is a section, called Working Together to Resolve Environmental Effects of Wind Energy—or WREN—Hub, which is devoted to wind research. This free searchable database, developed and maintained by PNNL wind and marine energy experts, is a source and repository for the research community to exchange information and data about the environmental impacts of wind and marine technologies. Tethys benefits wind project developers, who can review research findings that will assist with siting operations while minimizing risks to the environment. Tethys also helps regulatory agency staff by streamlining permitting processes because all pertinent information is easily accessible and in one database.