[RE-wrenches] Wind Turbines killing birds and bats

[Greg McPheeters]

When I dug into this issue many years ago it turned out that cell phone towers and tall lit radio towers were the main culprits in bird kills.  There was something about the combination of bright lights and support cables where migrating birds would circle and clip the cables, dying in huge numbers.  Neither of these two factors are present in modern wind farms.  I reached out to Audobon as well and at that time they confirmed their support for "well sited" wind turbines.


While wind turbine RPM is down, the blade lengths are way up, and my understanding is that the tips are still travelling quite fast.  For instance, a 3MW Vestas Turbine has a 300 Foot (90 Meter) Rotor Diameter, so if the blades are spinning at 20 RPM, the tips are travelling at about 200 mph (90 m/s)


 
Greg McPheeters  




________________________________
 From: bob ellison <reellison at gmail.com>
To: 'RE-wrenches' <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> 
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2012 4:47 PM
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Wind Turbines killing birds and bats
 

Drake,
There is nothing to it that is documented and recent. There were some problems years ago (20 – 30) due to tower design and poor placement.
The towers are a different design and it was never a serious issue in any case. Years ago the towers were a freestanding design with many places to perch and look for game to pick off for lunch. Rotor diameter is also considerably larger and slower now. Something like 20 rpm vs. 200 rpm. I have watched black birds chase a hawk through the sweeping rotor for 10 -15 minutes, no problems. It might have been the hawk leading the black birds through the rotor. Either way it was fun and fascinating to watch! I think I videotaped it but it was years ago and I have no idea where it might be.
My house windows, cat and car get MANY more birds than my turbine ever has. The cat and car do fairly well, when birds fly into the windows it is loud and not good for the birds at all. I have never found a dead bird under any of the turbines that I service.
I did find a dead bird in its nest that was inside a nacelle once, it was uninjured and just dead, no sign that it was damaged at all. 
 
There is all kinds of misleading stuff like those links out there, it’s just not accurate and done by the anti wind folks.
 
Hope this helps,
Bob Ellison
 
From:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Drake
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2012 6:18 PM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: [RE-wrenches] Wind Turbines killing birds and bats
 
Hello Wrenches, 

A very knowledgeable friend has concern about wind turbines killing birds and bats, and sent me these links.  From previous posts on this list and information I've heard elsewhere, I thought this really wasn't much of an issue, more of a red herring by those who are opposed to wind energy.

http://www.batsandwind.org/pdf/baerwald%20et%20al%20current%20biology%202008.pdf 
http://coalicionventanasverraco.org/files/horn_et_al_2008.pdf 
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090928095347.htm

http://www.abcbirds.org/abcprograms/policy/collisions/pdf/wind_rulemaking_petition.pdf 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_wind_power


How much of an issue is this really?  Can we put the danger into perspective?  Does this kill more bats and birds than the pollution it displaces?  

Thanks,

Drake 


Drake Chamberlin         
ATHENS ELECTRIC LLC
OH License 44810        
CO license 3773
NABCEP Certified PV
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