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A key challenge facing the wind industry is the potential for turbines to adversely affect wild animals both directly, via collisions, as well as indirectly due to noise pollution, habitat loss, and reduced survival or reproduction. Among the most impacted wildlife are birds and bats, which by eating destructive insects provide billions of dollars of economic benefits to the country’s agricultural sector each year.
Learn more: USGS Energy and Wildlife
Dead bats are found beneath wind turbines all over the world. It’s estimated that tens to hundreds of thousands die at wind turbines each year in North America alone. Unfortunately, it’s not yet clear why this is happening. It’s possible that wind turbines interfere with seasonal migration and mating patterns in some species of bats. More than three-quarters of the bat fatalities at wind turbines...
No publicly-available, national database of wind turbines existed prior to the creation of the USGS Windfarm mapper, which was replaced with the U.S. Wind Turbine Database (USWTDB) in 2018. Knowing the location of individual turbines and their technical specifications creates new opportunities for research and improved siting and is important information for land and resource management. In...
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average U.S. home uses 893 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per month. Per the U.S. Wind Turbine Database, the mean capacity of wind turbines that achieved commercial operations in 2020 is 2.75 megawatts (MW). At a 42% capacity factor (i.e., the average among recently built wind turbines in the United States, per the 2021 edition of...
The U.S. Wind Turbine Database project compiles wind turbine information from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s (LBNL) Wind Technologies Market Report dataset, the American Wind Energy Association’s (AWEA) wind turbine and project datasets, and the United States Geological Survey’s (USGS) legacy (2014) wind turbine dataset, as well as online sources...
As of January 2022, the U.S. Wind Turbine Database (USWTDB) contains more than 70,800 turbines. These turbines have all been constructed since 1980 in approximately 1,500 wind power projects spanning at least 44 states (plus Puerto Rico and Guam). Learn more: Wind Energy
The number of turbines installed in the U.S. each year varies based on a number of factors, but on average 3,000 turbines have been built in the U.S. each year since 2005. Learn more: Wind Energy U.S. Wind Turbine Database
According to a report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Table 30), depending on make and model wind turbines are predominantly made of steel (66-79% of total turbine mass); fiberglass, resin or plastic (11-16%); iron or cast iron (5-17%); copper (1%); and aluminum (0-2%). Many turbine components are domestically sourced and manufactured in the United States. According to the Land...
Blowing in the Wind
Science to Help Understand and Help Reduce Wildlife Impacts from Wind Energy
by Manuela Huso
USGS, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
Blowing in the Wind
Science to Help Understand and Help Reduce Wildlife Impacts from Wind Energy
by Manuela Huso
USGS, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
Targeted monitoring of Golden Eagle populations is an integral component of effective management, serving as a guide for deciding the appropriate course of management action, evaluating the effectiveness of such actions, and providing options to better achieve management goals.
Targeted monitoring of Golden Eagle populations is an integral component of effective management, serving as a guide for deciding the appropriate course of management action, evaluating the effectiveness of such actions, and providing options to better achieve management goals.
A California myotis (Myotis californicus) gets ready to fly away after identification and measurements are taken. USGS is conducting research in collaboration with NPS to learn about the roosting ecology of Western bats in an effort to improve management and conservation of bat populations.
A California myotis (Myotis californicus) gets ready to fly away after identification and measurements are taken. USGS is conducting research in collaboration with NPS to learn about the roosting ecology of Western bats in an effort to improve management and conservation of bat populations.
The Altamont Pass Wind Far is located in northern California.
The Altamont Pass Wind Far is located in northern California.
-- the challenges of wind-energy development and wildlife conservation
by Manuela Huso, Research Statistician
-- the challenges of wind-energy development and wildlife conservation
by Manuela Huso, Research Statistician
This photo shows one of the three 135-ft blades of a turbine before installation. Although the blades of wind turbines appear to move quite slowly to the human eye, blade tips often move at speeds faster than 100 mph.
This photo shows one of the three 135-ft blades of a turbine before installation. Although the blades of wind turbines appear to move quite slowly to the human eye, blade tips often move at speeds faster than 100 mph.
Wind turbines at certain sites in North America each cause dozens of bat fatalities per year.
Wind turbines at certain sites in North America each cause dozens of bat fatalities per year.
USGS biologist Paul Cryan. Biologists hope to learn more about the scale and causes of bat fatalities at wind turbines by searching for carcasses of bats beneath turbines and carefully documenting the conditions under which they are found.
USGS biologist Paul Cryan. Biologists hope to learn more about the scale and causes of bat fatalities at wind turbines by searching for carcasses of bats beneath turbines and carefully documenting the conditions under which they are found.
Sandhill Cranes fly in close proximity to wind turbines near Horicon National Wildlife Refuge in east-central Wisconsin, but to date no crane mortality has been associated with turbines in this area.
Sandhill Cranes fly in close proximity to wind turbines near Horicon National Wildlife Refuge in east-central Wisconsin, but to date no crane mortality has been associated with turbines in this area.
Dead bats are found beneath wind turbines all over the world. It’s estimated that tens to hundreds of thousands die at wind turbines each year in North America alone. Unfortunately, it’s not yet clear why this is happening. It’s possible that wind turbines interfere with seasonal migration and mating patterns in some species of bats. More than three-quarters of the bat fatalities at wind turbines...
No publicly-available, national database of wind turbines existed prior to the creation of the USGS Windfarm mapper, which was replaced with the U.S. Wind Turbine Database (USWTDB) in 2018. Knowing the location of individual turbines and their technical specifications creates new opportunities for research and improved siting and is important information for land and resource management. In...
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average U.S. home uses 893 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per month. Per the U.S. Wind Turbine Database, the mean capacity of wind turbines that achieved commercial operations in 2020 is 2.75 megawatts (MW). At a 42% capacity factor (i.e., the average among recently built wind turbines in the United States, per the 2021 edition of...
The U.S. Wind Turbine Database project compiles wind turbine information from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s (LBNL) Wind Technologies Market Report dataset, the American Wind Energy Association’s (AWEA) wind turbine and project datasets, and the United States Geological Survey’s (USGS) legacy (2014) wind turbine dataset, as well as online sources...
As of January 2022, the U.S. Wind Turbine Database (USWTDB) contains more than 70,800 turbines. These turbines have all been constructed since 1980 in approximately 1,500 wind power projects spanning at least 44 states (plus Puerto Rico and Guam). Learn more: Wind Energy
The number of turbines installed in the U.S. each year varies based on a number of factors, but on average 3,000 turbines have been built in the U.S. each year since 2005. Learn more: Wind Energy U.S. Wind Turbine Database
According to a report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Table 30), depending on make and model wind turbines are predominantly made of steel (66-79% of total turbine mass); fiberglass, resin or plastic (11-16%); iron or cast iron (5-17%); copper (1%); and aluminum (0-2%). Many turbine components are domestically sourced and manufactured in the United States. According to the Land...
Blowing in the Wind
Science to Help Understand and Help Reduce Wildlife Impacts from Wind Energy
by Manuela Huso
USGS, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
Blowing in the Wind
Science to Help Understand and Help Reduce Wildlife Impacts from Wind Energy
by Manuela Huso
USGS, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
Targeted monitoring of Golden Eagle populations is an integral component of effective management, serving as a guide for deciding the appropriate course of management action, evaluating the effectiveness of such actions, and providing options to better achieve management goals.
Targeted monitoring of Golden Eagle populations is an integral component of effective management, serving as a guide for deciding the appropriate course of management action, evaluating the effectiveness of such actions, and providing options to better achieve management goals.
A California myotis (Myotis californicus) gets ready to fly away after identification and measurements are taken. USGS is conducting research in collaboration with NPS to learn about the roosting ecology of Western bats in an effort to improve management and conservation of bat populations.
A California myotis (Myotis californicus) gets ready to fly away after identification and measurements are taken. USGS is conducting research in collaboration with NPS to learn about the roosting ecology of Western bats in an effort to improve management and conservation of bat populations.
The Altamont Pass Wind Far is located in northern California.
The Altamont Pass Wind Far is located in northern California.
-- the challenges of wind-energy development and wildlife conservation
by Manuela Huso, Research Statistician
-- the challenges of wind-energy development and wildlife conservation
by Manuela Huso, Research Statistician
This photo shows one of the three 135-ft blades of a turbine before installation. Although the blades of wind turbines appear to move quite slowly to the human eye, blade tips often move at speeds faster than 100 mph.
This photo shows one of the three 135-ft blades of a turbine before installation. Although the blades of wind turbines appear to move quite slowly to the human eye, blade tips often move at speeds faster than 100 mph.
Wind turbines at certain sites in North America each cause dozens of bat fatalities per year.
Wind turbines at certain sites in North America each cause dozens of bat fatalities per year.
USGS biologist Paul Cryan. Biologists hope to learn more about the scale and causes of bat fatalities at wind turbines by searching for carcasses of bats beneath turbines and carefully documenting the conditions under which they are found.
USGS biologist Paul Cryan. Biologists hope to learn more about the scale and causes of bat fatalities at wind turbines by searching for carcasses of bats beneath turbines and carefully documenting the conditions under which they are found.
Sandhill Cranes fly in close proximity to wind turbines near Horicon National Wildlife Refuge in east-central Wisconsin, but to date no crane mortality has been associated with turbines in this area.
Sandhill Cranes fly in close proximity to wind turbines near Horicon National Wildlife Refuge in east-central Wisconsin, but to date no crane mortality has been associated with turbines in this area.