Birds and wind farms/climate change

[Mxyzptlk]

This story has been growing for sometime:

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/environme ... 916019.ece

Unfortunately it requires a subscription to read it in full.

[Michael Szabo]

There are 44 bat species in the USA with a greater combined population than in NZ, which has two extant bat species. By far the greater threat to both bats and birds in NZ is that posed by introduced mammalian predators. The hours of turbine operation are a factor given that bats are nocturnal, and in localities of high bat density daytime solar power generation is an obvious alternative.

This story from Japan reports on the 70 MW solar power station that opened recently in Kagoshima:
http://cleantechnica.com/2013/11/07/kyo ... ion-japan/
& this one on the 250 MW Silver State South solar power station in Nevada, USA:
http://www.solarnovus.com/first-solar-s ... .html#atop
& this one on the recently expanded 40 MW solar power station in Barth, Germany:
http://www.solarnovus.com/pv-power-plan ... .html#atop
& this 70MW solar power station to be built in Argentina announced this week:
http://www.solarnovus.com/m-w-group-to- ... N7207.html

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[Mxyzptlk]

Wonder if we can learn from this lot:

http://www.birdguides.com/webzine/article.asp?a=4040

[Michael Szabo]

Thanks for posting this link, even though all the wind farms built in New Zealand are onshore (and I'm not aware of any proposed offshore). As Dr Alison Johnston says, the conclusions of the study are clear for offshore wind power construction: "These results demonstrate that turbines need not always be in conflict with wildlife. With careful planning of turbine design, offshore wind farms can be installed which minimise the impacts on bird populations. Solutions as simple as building turbines higher above the sea surface can reduce the number of birds colliding with the structures".

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[Michael Szabo]

Scientists at Victoria University say that glaciers in the central South Island are melting by 160 metres a year and will more than halve in size by 2100:
http://www.3news.co.nz/Glaciers-set-to- ... pBSfidyjzI

[Mxyzptlk]

... "and still they come" ... [Wayne Jeff, "Eve of the War"]

http://www.myfoxny.com/story/24050658/g ... ms-a-first

[Michael Szabo]

These Wyoming wind turbines, like those in the Altamont Pass, were poorly sited in the first place. It is encouraging that the company will now install new radar technology to identify when birds get too close to the turbines and shut them down when they do.

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[Mxyzptlk]

Another birds vs windmills story from the UK:

http://www.birdguides.com/webzine/article.asp?a=4095

Maybe they need radar.

[Michael Szabo]

The reasons that Scottish Nature (the equivalent of DOC in Scotland) is objecting to the siting of this wind farm proposal are the same as the RSPB's: it is an internationally important bird area located in one of the rarest Scottish habitats (peat bog) which is also at the core of an extensive wilderness restoration project, making the restoration project more difficult to complete. The RSPB is not opposed to wind power per se.

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[Jan]

'Wind energy is not green if it is killing thousands of birds'

That's a quote from the Wyoming case and I think that says it all. There's no point plugging wind farms ad nauseum
without getting the balance right. It gives wind farms and green energy a really bad name. Enough people want to knock green technology as it is without giving them more ammunition.