The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is leading a new International Energy Agency (IEA) Wind Task to address concerns about the environmental effects of wind energy technology. Task 34, also known as WREN (Working together to Resolve Environmental effects of wind eNergy), focuses on two key activities: developing an online platform to facilitate the broad sharing of information about the impacts of wind energy deployment and expedite collaboration; and developing white papers on environmental topics that are of importance to the large-scale deployment of wind energy.

DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is developing the online platform, WREN Hub, which will house all WREN-related information and serve as a central location accessible to both WREN member nations and the public. Built off of Tethys, an existing online knowledge management system developed by PNNL, WREN Hub will be a repository for key scientific papers, reports, and other literature on the environmental challenges pertaining to land-based and offshore wind energy development. Other key features of WREN Hub will include a calendar of upcoming meetings, webinars, and related events of interest to wind stakeholders; a repository for materials from WREN-sponsored events; and information on existing regulatory frameworks for a range of countries.

White papers will be developed by researchers in the WREN member nations to advance understanding of the wind energy community’s global concerns. The first white paper will explore the successes, challenges, and risks associated with the use of adaptive management in monitoring and mitigating impacts to wildlife at land-based and offshore wind energy projects around the world. Based on real-world examples, the paper will focus on technical, financial, and operational aspects of adaptive management. Potential future topics include the challenge of extrapolating from individual effects on wildlife around wind farms to population impacts, and reconciling the climate mitigation, water savings, and other global environmental benefits of wind energy with its local impacts on wildlife and habitat.

DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory is acting as operating agent for the new task, and member nations include Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Several other countries have expressed strong interest in joining this collaborative.