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New research has revealed an unexpected challenge to the advancement of offshore wind energy: the best areas for turbines often coincide with marine regions rich in food for wildlife.
Over the past few decades, the offshore wind energy is growing as a promising clean solution to climate change. But new research has highlighted a dilemma that has so far gone unnoticed: the best places to install offshore turbines are also often areas rich in wildlife.
This coincidence raises an urgent question — Is it possible to expand renewable sources without putting marine biodiversity at risk?
Conflict between wind and life
The study was conducted by scientists from the University of Alicante in Spain and partners from other institutions.
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Researchers have identified that many of the locations with the greatest potential for offshore wind power generation are also areas with intense biological activity.
In particular, regions where seabirds and marine mammals feed.
The overlap of these two interests — energy and nature — creates a direct conflict between advancing the energy transition and preservation of oceanic ecosystems.
Turbines also make an impact
Building turbines at sea may seem like a less aggressive alternative than building them on land. However, the environmental impacts are significant and varied.
Among them, underwater noise stands out, which affects the communication of whales and dolphins, in addition to the alteration or loss of habitats.
Another critical issue is the risk of birds colliding with turbines during flight. Although some areas around wind farms become restricted fishing zones — which could benefit certain species — this does not offset the risks when turbines are installed in ecologically sensitive regions.
Mapping the ocean with mathematics
Since it is not possible to track all marine animals individually, researchers turned to mathematical models to predict where marine life is concentrated.
The strategy was to observe food chains. The conclusion: the determining factor is not species diversity, but rather biomass — that is, the amount of food available.
Where there is a lot of plankton, there are more fish; with more fish, predators appear. This cascade effect forms the so-called “hot spots” in the ocean.
Maps reveal risk zones
Based on the models, the team created global risk maps that overlay areas with high wind energy potential and regions rich in biodiversity.
The result was clear: there is a large overlap in the Northern Hemisphere, with emphasis on the North Atlantic and the North Sea.
In the Southern Hemisphere, this overlap appears to be smaller, but this may be related to the scarcity of data in the region.
A worrying fact is that many of the areas identified as high risk still do not have legal protection. Therefore, the authors recommend that governments and environmental entities adopt urgent measures, such as:
- Expand and strengthen marine protected areas.
- Create ecological exclusion zones.
- Base decisions on scientific data and not on political interests.
Technology can help — or hinder
Among the most promising tools is the use of GPS to monitor seabirds. This type of tracking could reveal whether the animals are avoiding areas with turbines.
However, this behavior could indicate a new problem: if they avoid turbines, are they also avoiding their food sources?
These are questions that still need answers. But one thing is clear. The future of energy needs to be clean, yes — but it also needs to be fair to biodiversity.
