UW study finds evidence linking bug debris accumulation linked to color of turbines

While appearing on Sheridan Media’s Public Pulse, Director of Institutional Communications for the University of Wyoming, Chad Baldwin, spoke on a recent published paper exploring if wind turbine color attracts insects.

Many residents and visitors to the Cowboy State have seen the tall white wind turbines gently spinning in the Wyoming wind. 

A group of University of Wyoming researchers — headed by former UW master’s student Madison Crawford, sampled insects near experimental wind turbine mimics with nine different colors during summer 2017. The mimics were located on a hill with characteristics similar to sites of nearby wind energy facilities.

Lusha Tronstad, lead invertebrate zoologist with UW’s Wyoming Natural Diversity Database (WYNDD) was last author of a paper titled “Insects are attracted to white wind turbine bases: evidence from turbine mimics” that was recently published in Western North American Naturalist, a peer-reviewed journal focusing on biodiversity and conservation of western North America.

According to UW, the study shows strong evidence that even just painting the bottom portions of turbine bases a darker shade of color may decrease the abundance of insects and their predators colliding near wind energy facilities. This would provide three benefits: More insects that perform ecological services may be conserved; fewer insect predators, including birds, may be attracted to wind turbines; and fewer insects may soil the surface of blades, leading to a substantial increase in wind turbine energy output.
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