Numerous studies offer the modern concept of collision risk model to evaluate risks of bird collision around offshore wind farms. This approach is used to improve the evaluation of collision by better reflection of the proportion of in-flight populations at risk of collision. Collision risk model is among the current safety technologies in aerospace industry. Johnston, Cook, Wright, Humphreys, & Burton (31) state that there is an increase of offshore wind farms in many parts of the countries renewable energy strategies. It is fundamentally essential to quantify the probability of these developments on wildlife. Among the necessary concerns is the risk of birds colliding with turbine blades. The method presented in these articles can be applied to improve better 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 reduced number of huge turbines are effective strategies that can reduce collision risk.
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 thus a novel method, offers measures of uncertainty, and enables comparisons to be conducted on collision risk between varied turbine designs.
In all the three articles, limited information has been displayed 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 & 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 Pages 1-62
Drewitt, L. Allan, & Langston, H. W. Rowena. “Assessing the Impacts of Wind Farms on
Birds.” IBIS. 2006. Vol. 128, Pages 29-42
Johnston, Alison, Cook, C. P. Aonghais, Wright, J. Lucy, Humphreys, M. Elizabeth, & 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, Issue 1, Pages 31-41