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The Role of Adaptive Management in the Wind Energy Industry

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Wind Energy and Wildlife Impacts

Abstract

Adaptive management (AM) is a systematic process intended to improve policies and practices and reduce scientific uncertainty by learning from the outcome of management decisions. Although many nations are considering the use of AM for wind energy, its application in practice and in policy has been limited. Recent applications of AM have revealed fundamental differences in the definition of AM, its applications, and the projects or planning processes to which it might be applied. This chapter suggests the need for a common understanding and definition of and framework for AM and its application to wind energy. We discuss a definition of AM and technical guidance created by the United States (US) Department of the Interior’s (DOI’s) Adaptive Management Working Group. The chapter also examines how AM has been applied to wind energy development in several European nations and in the USA. The challenges and opportunities associated with implementation of AM for wind development are addressed, management actions in nations that exhibit attributes of AM are compared, and pathways to appropriate application and potential broader use of AM are explored.

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Acknowledgments

This chapter is derived from a white paper written under the Working Together to Resolve Environmental Effects of Wind Energy (WREN) initiative (https://tethys.pnnl.gov/publications/assessing-environmental-effects-wren-white-paper-adaptive-management-wind-energy). The WREN international collaborative is a collaboration of 11 nations that seek to identify and resolve conflicts between wind energy development and wildlife protection. The purpose of this chapter is to explore how AM is used in relation to the wind energy industry around the world and to identify ways the process and its implementation may be improved upon. We are grateful to all members of the WREN organization, particularly our co-authors on the white paper – Luke Hanna and Simon Geerlofs of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Luke Feinberg of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Jocelyn Brown-Saracino and Patrick Gilman of the US Department of Energy, and Johann Köppel and Lea Bulling of the Berlin Institute of Technology – as well as the many contributors and reviewers who helped improve the white paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Seattle, WA, USA

    Andrea Copping

  2. Berlin Institute of Technology, Berlin, Germany

    Victoria Gartman

  3. Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Trondheim, Norway

    Roel May

  4. Marine Scotland Science, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK

    Finlay Bennet

Authors
  1. Andrea Copping
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  2. Victoria Gartman
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  3. Roel May
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  4. Finlay Bennet
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrea Copping .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics and Centre for Mathematics and Applications (CMA), Faculty of Sciences and Technology of NOVA University of Lisbon, Monte da Caparica, Portugal, MARE – Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

    Regina Bispo

  2. CIBIO/InBIO – Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, University of Porto, Vairão, Portugal

    Joana Bernardino

  3. Bioinsight, Odivelas, Portugal

    Helena Coelho

  4. MARE – Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

    José Lino Costa

Appendix: Summary of Wind Development Project Plans with Adaptive Management Components

Appendix: Summary of Wind Development Project Plans with Adaptive Management Components

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Copping, A., Gartman, V., May, R., Bennet, F. (2019). The Role of Adaptive Management in the Wind Energy Industry. In: Bispo, R., Bernardino, J., Coelho, H., Lino Costa, J. (eds) Wind Energy and Wildlife Impacts . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05520-2_1

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