Extreme Veteran
Posts: 319
| We've got a small 6kW turbine. We took part in a study run by Stirling University on the effects of small wind turbines on birds and bats. We have both but have had no problems with collisions and our cat and windows have both been responsible for some birds. The preliminary analysis shows that when small wind turbines are running the bats avoid them. When they are shut down they don't. Clearly the bats are sensible. They don't seem to have done much with the bird data yet but I suspect the same would apply. Obviously if you site a wind turbine on a migratory path you might have problems but generally the risks have been overstated by people who don't like the look of them. The risks to bird populations of a 7 meter sea level rise are immeasurably greater. We are now committed to this over coming centuries with our current CO2 levels as the last time they were this high the sea level was 7 meters higher. It may take some time but the Arctic will probably be ice free this decade so sea level rise could be faster than currently predicted. It may not be very long before many bird breading areas are inundated. |
Do turbines kill birds or bats?