Offshore wind farms host more soil animals per square meter than the North Sea floor

Offshore wind farms host more soil animals per square meter than the North Sea floor, discovered Leiden researchers. After 25 years, hundred times more animals and a doubling of the number of different species could live on the foundations of wind turbines. The researchers published their findings in Environmental Science & Technology.

Until now, only little was known about the long-term effects of wind farms on marine life. ‘Previous studies focused only on several years, not a whole life cycle of a wind turbine’, says research leader and industrial ecologist Chen Li. A wind turbine lasts about 25 to 30 years, so Li examined the effects of turbines on the soil after 25 years. Wind turbine foundations host more soil animals That soil animals... ... More: Official Press Release Universiteit Leiden

Keywords:

Universiteit Leiden, offshore, wind farm, botttom dweller, submarine, foundation, animal, soil, renewable energy, research, biodiversity, marine, species