Windmills are a wonderful clean safe source of green energy… right? Not everyone thinks so, especially some environmentalists and biologists. The spinning blades of wind mills can be fatal to flying birds and also can act as giant scarecrows discouraging birds from nesting in an area.
Birds, of course, collide with all sorts of human structures. Cars kill millions of birds each year in the US. Almost a billion collide with tall building and windows. Birds are killed by utility lines and lighted towers. Then of course there are the bird deaths due to non-collision causes such as pesticides. habitat loss, toxic emissions from power plants and being killed by domestic cats. So the bottom line is nothing is totally safe for birds,
However, according to various studies bird collision mortality associated with wind turbines is much lower than other sources of collision mortality. Even if wind plants were quite numerous, they would likely cause no more than a few percent of all collision deaths related to human structures.
Public attention has focused on the large Altamont Pass wind farm in California, where unusually high numbers of raptors die, in part due to the large size of the wind plant, old turbine design and unfavorable siting of the turbines in an area of large raptor population. According to some estimates, as many as three dozen golden eagles die there annually. Here is one of the few videos of an actual bird strike and the touching rescue attempt at Altamont.
In addition to killing birds, a new study published in the Journal of Applied Ecology has found that the wind farms are acting as giant scarecrows, frightening birds away. The study found that seven species of birds tended to stop nesting within one half mile of any turbine. Bird nesting was reduced in three quarters of a square mile around each structure.
Siting wind plants in areas with low bird and raptor use is currently the best way to minimize collision mortality. Also environmentalists still need to determine all the various factors that contribute. Here is a good video with an overview of the problem.
The engineer who designs a bird-friendly windmill and the company that markets it will carve a huge place in the energy marketplace. The diversity of wind turbine designs now being developed is remarkable. Here is a video of bird-wind turbine controversy (with some graphic images), but it also shows a unique solution provided by a Spanish wind turbine company. It shows vertical wind turbines, one example of these many new technologies.
While there are few sites in Connecticut suitable for large wind installations, the state offers many opportunities for small wind projects. In fact did you know that in 1854 Daniel Halladay invented and sold the first commercially successful windmill in the New World right here in Ellington CT. Many towns in Connectuct have been vying for funding from the recently passed federal stimulus bill for clean energy projects like wind turbines.
Here below are a few of the wind energy projects being constructed or considered throughout the state:
- Shelton: a 37-foot structure by Poulson Hybrid
- Torrington: Sewer District plant and a 199-foot wind turbine on a private farm
- Old Lyme: Clean & Green Energy’s pair of 300 ft. wind turbines to power homes
- Middletown/Middlefield: possibility of installing a wind farm on Mount Higby
- CT Clean Energy Fund’s Small Wind Turbine Project: Coventry High School, Lebanon High School, Mountain Day Mist Camp Meriden YMCA, New Haven Visitor Center
- New Haven: Phoenix Press constructing a 150-foot wind turbine on the banks of the Quinnipiac River
- Avon: the first private home wind turbine in Connecticut
- Hamden: the first US university wind farm at Quinnipiac University installing 25 vertical wind turbines
- State of Connecticut: may install and operate wind turbines at a correctional facility
While there have been studies done on bird mortality caused by large commercial wind installations, I doubt there have been any done on the impact of smaller and home-sized wind systems on birds. I suppose the small problem is not considered biologically insignificant. Perhaps the smaller blades and short tower heights of residential windmills do not represent a threat to birds. But I truly hope that when towns consider environmental impact statements for their projects they.
Due to declines in many species of birds, and as wind farms become more prevalent any additional mortality should be a cause for concern. Hopefully monitoring programs at many of the newer wind plants will provide information to better understand avian mortality levels and to continue to determine factors important for siting wind plants. Because birds populations continue to decline due to so many environmental factors, efforts by every industry are important to reverse avian mortality trends and to minimize bird deaths.
If you have a question or comment, or a nature topic you would like to hear about on my blog, please feel free to comment below here on this blog, or email me at madelinedennis@optonline.net.
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this is a terrific post…very good points you make.
While wind turbines do pose a threat, it is one we must defeat. There is just too much available wind in the U.S. and if done right, there is enough out there to power the whole country.
The real opportunity in rolling out wind energy though is taking advantage of roofs and especially in cities where bird populations aren’t as prevalent.
Comment by Home wind turbine kits — August 11th, 2011 @ 8:08 am
We must find safer ways to use wind farms. Estimates show that over the years, anywhere from 75,000 to 275,000 birds have been killed per year. These numbers are expected to increase as the number of wind farms grow.
Comment by James — October 3rd, 2011 @ 12:42 am