Oregon State University researchers are part of a team looking at reducing bird collision risks with wind turbines by painting a single blade of the turbine black.
Oregon State University researchers are part of a team looking at reducing bird collision risks with wind turbines by painting a single blade of the turbine black.
Wind energy has a significant role during a time of climate change, rising energy demands and a transition from fossil fuels to clean energy, but it poses risks to birds and bats due to collision fatalities. Previous studies estimate that hundreds of thousands of birds and bats die each year as a result of collisions with wind turbine blades.
The Oregon State researchers, working with federal, industry and nonprofit partners, and funded in part by the Oregon Legislature, are building on recent research in Norway that found a nearly 72% decline in bird collisions with turbine blades when one blade was painted black.
Read more at: Oregon State University
Wind turbine blade painted black at a wind farm near Glenrock, Wyoming operated by PacifiCorp. (Photo Credit: PacifiCorp)
