At the point of site selection, developers need to consider an ecological site risk assessment, whether in terms of landscape, wildlife habitat or protected species.There is now considerable research and public opinion on the impact of onshore wind developments on birds, but little is published on the effects on bats in the UK. Bats are protected by European legislation.

DEFRA commissioned a research project in 2009 on bats and wind farms, part sponsored by Renewable UK, which is ongoing.

New technology for the remote monitoring of bat traffic is now available in the UK. This session will look at how it can help developers identify the most suitable sites for onshore windfarms ahead of the planning process and avoid unnecessary disturbance of this protected species.

The seminar will introduce remote monitoring technology (specifically a new device to the UK market) including case studies on side-by-side field-testing with the existing market leader. It will cover how to set up the hardware in the field, best practice guidelines for remote bat monitoring, the applications of call recognition software (currently in use for bat and bird detection in the US) and call data analysis.

Andrew shares the slot with Pete Wells of Arup and Stephen Holloway of SLR Consulting (AMA Ecology and Environment). The session chair is Sarah Rhodes, Head of Land-based Renewables, Office for Renewable Energy Deployment, Department of Energy and Climate Change.

For the full conference programme please see the document below or click on the link to the Renewable UK web site.