Small Wind Turbines Towers [RE-wrenches]

[Travis Creswell, Ozark Solar]

Did anyone catch the Towers/Bird Kill story on NPR just this morning, if not
it probably will air again on this evenings news.

What I took away from the story was this "lighted towers kill lots of birds
in certain low visibility conditions".  I hadn't had my coffee yet so don't
quote me on any of this.  Heck it might not have even been on NPR.  Blame it
on CRS and all that...  They gave several documented instances where over
10,000 birds died in each occurrence.  One in KS and one in WI.  Something
to do with the light making the water droplets all glow.  It sounded like
the X-Files.  Birds would become so severely disoriented by lighted towers
that they would fly so hard into the ground they would impale themselves on
wheat stubble.  Suggestions by the story; don't light towers or turn the
lights off in low visibility conditions.  That's right, turn the lights off
in low vis conditions.  I guess low flying planes and helicopters crashing
aren't a problem.

Another wind turbine related issue:  The Audubon Society is fighting wind
turbine development in the Flint Hills of Eastern KS.  Turns out the Prairie
Chicken won't reproduce if can see any man made structures whilst it is
copulating.

Travis Creswell


----------
>From: "Michael Welch, Home Power" <michael.welch at homepower.com>
>To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
>Subject: Re: Small Wind Turbines Towers [RE-wrenches]
>Date: Fri, Dec 6, 2002, 11:50 AM
>

>matthew tritt wrote at 09:05 AM 12/06/2002 -0800:
>  
>>1. Bird kills. Guy wires are responsible for at least as many bird kills as
>>rotor blades, most probably many more. The wires become invisible to most
>>birds in heavy fog.
>
>I did some looking at this issue awhile back and discovered it is the 
>towers that birds run into. And it did not matter what the tower was doing, 
>whether it was for a wind machine or antenna.
>
>We in the industry need to be careful not to perpetuate the bird in the 
>blender myth.
>  
>Michael Welch
>  
>------------------------
>"The California crunch really is the result of not enough power-generating 
>plants and then not enough power to power the power of generating plants."
>   Resident George "Dubya" Bush
>        
>Michael Welch, michael.welch at homepower.com
>     Home Power magazine
>     www.homepower.com
>     To reach me: 707-822-7884
>     To reach Home Power: 800-707-6585
>
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