Hull University have completed a study on the new 125m (410ft) turbine at the Croda Europe plant in Hull assessing the effect they have on the wild life. The fear is that birds are flying into the spinning blades. Initial assessments were not considered successful even if no dead or injured birds were found below the turbines as fox spoor was prevalent. The assumption was that these foxes were picking up any birds struck by the blades.
In order to completely satisfy the study objective it was decided to fence off the turbine to eliminate the fox as a factor. This was done using LiveStock Sheep netting coupled to a Hotshock energiser. During the study period from 2008 - 2009 NO bird carcasses or evidence was found.

Croda Fox Exclusion Project.

"No evidence of fox prints at all were found whilst the fence was up and operational, the ground was soft for the majority of the study (sometimes frozen however), and so I would assume that tracks would have been easily visible. Before the erection of the fence, the site was covered in fox spoor and so the fence has appeared to certainly deter if not eliminate the foxes entirely from the area within the fence." Anna Phelps.B.Sc (hons), M.Sc. Researcher

Coupled with visual observation noting that birds did not fly into the blades and were quite obviously taking avoiding action before getting too close to them.

"The project demonstrates successful cooperation between industry and environmental/conservation science, working towards a sustainable future for our local environment."