No one knows how old wind turbines will impact the environment

By 2030, there will be an estimated 1800 offshore wind turbines likely to need decommissioning, but there's little evidence on the best way to do this in a way that minimises the environmental impact of these structures.

Writing in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution, researchers at the University of Plymouth have argued that action is urgently needed to make sure the construction of future artificial structures, and the decommissioning of old turbines and oil rigs, doesn't create an additional ecological burden. 

“Through our research, we only found around 50 studies worldwide that have provided direct evidence of how the decommissioning of offshore structures is impacting the marine environment," says Dr Anaelle Lemasson, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the University and lead author on the study, which was part of the three-year DREAMS project funded by UKRI. "Most of these were off the coast of the USA or in the North Sea, which primarily focus on what happens to fish or invertebrates when structures are removed, but ignore consequences for other features. Clearly, this leaves a lot of gaps from both a geographical and environmental perspective.”

Researchers highlighted that most existing evidence relates to the oil and gas industry, and that there's no coherent international framework for decommissioning. “Despite the current evidence being minimal, the last few years have seen a surge in the number of studies looking at this issue," said Dr Antony Knights, Associate Professor in Marine Ecology and Co-Principal Investigator on the DREAMS project. "It highlights the global recognition, within the scientific community at least, that efforts are critically required to prevent this from becoming a major environmental concern. We know that industry, national and international governments are keen to ensure that structures are decommissioned most effectively and efficiently. However, the evidence required to underpin best-practice decision-making and develop environmental policy that benefits both nature and society remains disparate with our knowledge of how best to tackle the issue falling short of what is required.”

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