Belcarra Garden Club
BC, Canada
Do Wind Turbines Kill Birds and Bats?
by Les Bramley
and Nora Boekhout
Happy New Year to all our fellow gardeners and wildlife lovers!
This month Les was intrigued by the question, “Do Wind Turbines kill birds (and bats)?” As the world explores renewable options for energy sources, it is vital to also consider side effects to Mother Nature. Although the answer was “Yes”, Les found out that this is only a fraction of those killed by house cats, collisions with buildings and cell phone towers, or even the fossil fuel operations that wind farms replace. The scary part here is that this number is in the billions per year! Migration times are, of course, the most disastrous.
Wind power is a provider of clean, cheap zero carbon electricity and about 96% of a wind turbine is made from recyclable materials. The goal is to make them 100% from recyclable products and to use the Fibreglass as a key component in the production of cement. Wind Turbines are very expensive, typically $1.3 million per megawatt (MW). One MW can power approximately 1000 homes for a month. Most onshore commercial Wind Turbines have a capacity of 2 to 3 MW, but offshore Turbines can be 16 to 18 MWs. Turbine blade tip speeds range from 120 - 180 miles per hour and this is where the birds run into trouble.
Illustration from How wind turbines and bats and birds can coexist peacefully | Knowable Magazine
Engineers and Scientists around the world have been investigating different ways to make Wind Turbines safer for wildlife. One interesting nine-year study, at Norway’s Smola Wind Farm, found that painting one wind turbine blade black decreased bird deaths by 70%. It’s not a simple solution, however, as U.S. Federal Aviation Administration standards require turbines to be painted white or grey for aviation safety.
Katrick Technologies out of Glasgow Scotland have made Bladeless Honeycomb Wind Turbines. Iberdrola, in Spain, is applying vinyl shapes resembling eyes to protect bird life. Aeromine Technologies, in California, have Wind Turbines with zero external moving parts. Other studies on raising the cut-in speed have shown excellent results in reducing bat mortality without significantly reducing revenue. Another strategy may be to deter bats with disorienting noises, audible to bats but not humans.
There is a LOT of remarkable information on this topic, and we hope you will check out some of the links below!
RELATED LINKS
Here are just a few of the MANY links available!
This topic covers a huge amount of information.
https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/do-wind-turbines-kill-birds
Nine year study at Norways Smola Wind Farm; Bird deaths down 70% after painting one wind turbine blade black.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/08/black-paint-on-wind-turbines-helps-prevent-bird-massacres/
Why are Wind Turbines painted white ?
U.S. Federal Aviation Administration standards require turbines to be painted white or grey for aviation safety.
https://abcbirds.org/article/statement-on-painting-wind-turbine-blades/
Popular Science how Wind Turbines could coexist peacefully with bats and birds.
From simple fixes to high tech solutions, new approaches can help.
https://www.popsci.com/environment/how-wind-turbines-could-coexist-peacefully-with-bats-and-birds/
Wind power is a provider of clean, cheap zero carbon electricity.
Engineers around the World are working on making turbines 100% sustainable from recyclable products.
https://www.nationalgrid.com/stories/energy-explained/can-wind-turbine-blades-be-recycled
Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.
A company called Carbon Rivers have made a recovery process for turbine blades.
Carbon Rivers is up-cycling its process to take 50,000 metric tons annually.
https://www.energy.gov/eere/wind/articles/carbon-rivers-makes-wind-turbine-blade-recycling-and-upcycling-reality-support
Iberdrola, in Spain, is applying vinyl shapes resembling eyes to protect bird life.
https://www.iberdrola.com/press-room/news/detail/iberdrola-painting-wind-turbine-blades-protect-birdlife
Scientists and Engineers are designing new type of Wind Turbines.
The following are a few new designs of Turbine that are coming on the market.
Katrick Technologies out of Glasgow Scotland have made Bladeless Honeycomb Wind Turbines, less chance of birds being injured and the turbines take up less space.
https://www.yahoo.com/tech/company-unveils-bladeless-honeycomb-wind-220000289.html
https://www.katricktechnologies.com/wind-technologies
Norway is soon to test a radical new turbine for offshore wind energy.
Norwegian startup World Wide Wind envision building up to 40 megawatts of capacity, twice what today's turbines can do.
https://newatlas.com/energy/world-wide-wind-interview/
https://worldwidewind.no/pages/technology
Aeromine Technologies have Wind Turbines with zero external moving parts.
https://www.aerominetechnologies.com/
A few facts on Wind Turbines.
Office of ENERGY EFFICIENCY & RENEWABLE ENERGY
https://www.energy.gov/eere/wind/how-do-wind-turbines-work
Iberdrola - What is a Wind Turbine and how does it work?
https://www.iberdrola.com/sustainability/wind-turbines-blades
How long do Turbines last? At present they generally last 20 to 25 years with correct maintenance.
Engineers are working to make them last over 30 years.
https://www.twi-global.com/technical-knowledge/faqs/how-long-do-wind-turbines-last
How Much do Wind Turbines Cost?
https://weatherguardwind.com/how-much-does-wind-turbine-cost-worth-it/
Modvion, a Swedish start-up, has just built the world's tallest wooden turbine tower, saying that using wood for wind power is the future.It's 150m (492ft) to the tip of the highest blade.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-67718719
Canada's first offshore Wind Turbines could be coming soon.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/canadas-first-offshore-wind-turbines-213128445.html
Canadian Wind Turbine database: where to find them.
https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/79fdad93-9025-49ad-ba16-c26d718cc070
List of Wind Farms in Canada
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wind_farms_in_Canada
