Power up them wind turbines!!!

I did a research project on this for The Nature Conservancy. Most wildlife organizations, such as The Audubon Society, support wind energy. The only wildlife organization that I could find that opposed it was a group dedicated to bats. There was one early wind farm in Altamont Pass, CA that was poorly sited and used older technology turbines, and it did cause a number of raptor fatalities. The newer turbines are much more bird-friendly, and by careful siting, the danger to birds can be minimalized. I would guess that the overall improvement to the health of birds from decreased emissions makes up for it.
I suspect that the complaints about bird hazards from wind farms comes not from bird-lovers, but from people who oppose wind energy for other reasons.

 

First off, thank you for not calling them wind mills. That aside, yeah the newer technology reduces what risk was posed. Altamont was bad for several reasons that include: a large number of turbines in a migratory area, high rpms on the turbines (modern, large turbines' rotors spin much more slowly than the sub megawatt turbines of old), and the towers for the turbines actually made good roosting sites (the modern ones are steel tubes that don't provide any roosting sites). Kind of a "perfect storm" of avian death and destruction. Those causes are pretty much a thing of the past at this point.

 

There is a project here called Night Wind, to find a solution for storing excess wind generated electricity and help balance demand and supply. Their solution: store the excess energy in freezers. No, this is not a joke.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(larkinmj @ May 7 2007, 03:03 PM) [snapback]437045[/snapback]</div>

People who think that they spoil the view. Sheesh.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(lowlander @ May 7 2007, 03:11 PM) [snapback]437090[/snapback]</div>

Another approach that's being tried in Iowa is compressing air and storing it in geologic structures. The air is then used later when the wind isn't blowing.