[RE-wrenches] Bat deaths and wind turbines

[Ross Taylor]

Hi all,

I wanted to address the current discussion regarding bat mortalities.  Yes,
I work for a wind turbine company so I certainly have a bias.  But I'm not
opposed to honest and accurate discussions and perspective.  In that light,
I wish to add some input and perspective about bats.  I'm not arguing that
bat deaths may not occur at wind turbine sites, but I strongly disagree
with the whole "barotrauma" myth.  Anyone who understands the physics of
wind turbines and the mechanism of observed trauma should understand that
the pressure differences between the front and rear surface of a wind
turbine blade are not so great that they could "explode lungs
and capillaries" within a bat.  It would require a vacuum, essentially, to
cause this and it just doesn't make sense.  There's no vacuum involved
here.  And any bat which might be close enough to the blade to be in a
lower pressure area would most likely be struck by that blade.  Remember,
we're talking about pressure difference - not an absence of pressure nor
any pressure low enough to burst lungs.

The Calgary study results are doubted by the bat biologists with whom I've
discussed this and I've also been told that subsequent testing of this
hypothesis showed that dead bat bodies, which were dropped from the height
of wind turbine blades, showed the same lung damage as the researchers
found in the Calgary study.  These were bats which had died from natural or
other causes, which were used in the testing. It was found that the ground
impact, from the fall, caused ruptured lung tissue which looked identical
to that found by the Calgary researchers.

Keep in mind I'm not minimizing the deaths of bats which might occur, and
I'm not saying that they don't happen.  But if a bat body is found below a
wind turbine it most likely died from impact and not some absurd
vacuum-caused lung explosion.  I hate the way this crock has been repeated
and spread.

Okay, off the soapbox now...

Ross


*
*
*Ross Taylor*
International Training Manager

Southwest Windpower GmbH
Mannesmannstr. 6
50996 Köln Deutschland
ross.taylor at windenergy.com
www.windenergy.com
Office:  +49 (0) 221/ 16 53 94 50
Mobile: +49 (0) 15779554879
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