Numerous studies have examined the modern concept of collision risk model to evaluate the risks of bird collision around the offshore wind farms. This approach improves the evaluation of collision by reflecting the proportion of in-flight populations at risk of collision. Collision risk model is one of the safety technologies in the aerospace industry. Johnston et al. highlight the increase in offshore wind farms in many parts of the countries as the renewable energy strategies are taking shape (31). Consequently, it is essential to highlight the probability of these developments on wildlife. One of the necessary concerns is the risk of birds colliding with the turbine blades. The method presented in these articles can improve the collision risk by reflecting the proportion of in-flight populations at the risk of collision. From different studies conducted, it was confirmed that raising hub height and using a reduced number of huge turbines are effective strategies that can reduce the collision risk (Johnston et al. 31).
The articles are highly essential in offering guidance on the collision risk assessment for offshore wind farms and increase transparency to calculations. Therefore, there is greater confidence in the results. Comparisons of the article are additionally useful for cumulative assessment and thus better selection of the collision risk tool for the best regions for the creation of offshore wind farm. The approach is a novel method for offering the measures of uncertainty and enabling the comparisons to be conducted on collision risk between varied turbine designs.
In all of the three articles, the researchers have displayed limited information concerning associated challenges in applying this model. This limitation may be attributed to the limited practical application of the model over a period of time. It is necessary to set a boundary for estimating bird density since the model of collision risk fails to include the definition of a wind farm boundary (Band 38). To apply this approach in getting the average proportion of birds’ occupancy, the Band model is applied where low levels of birds’ occupancy are expressed in birds-seconds per year. This method can be applied in measuring bird abundance and movements of birds (Drewitt and Langston 42).
Works Cited
Band, Bill. “Using a Collision Risk Model to Assess Bird Collision Risks for Offshore Wind
farms.” British Trust for Ornithology, 2012, pp. 1-62.
Drewitt, L. Allan and Langston, H. W. Rowena. “Assessing the Impacts of Wind Farms on
Birds.” IBIS, 2006, vol. 128, pp. 29-42.
Johnston, Alison, Cook, C. P. Aonghais, Wright, J. Lucy, Humphreys, M. Elizabeth, and Burton,
- K. Niall. “Modeling Flight Heights of Marine Birds to More Accurately Assess Collision Risk with Offshore Wind Turbines.” Journal of Applied Ecology, 2013, vol. 51, no. 1, pp. 31-41.