[shadowbot]

There might be specific height requirements or certain heights that they set them at for maximum efficiency. However if they put them higher than the bats normally fly and only get a slight drop in production it might be a decent compromise.

Maybe in that area they might have to design a different type of turbine to work at a higher height, but hey the wind is stronger as you go higher right?

[horselover]

That is so true, however if the turbine is too high up, maintenance might become an issue. There's so much to think about, and their idea may be that killing a few birds and bats will save money in the long run. Who knows though. I guess only they do.

[shadowbot]

Yeah we would probably need to know a lot more before our suggestions truly became useful but hey, we can only guess off of what we know.

[horselover]

i guess it's all about doing the research and testing to determine what's right when it comes to something like this. It's a delecate situation for most people, although it does seem like the people who built this turbine didn't put any thought into the migratory path of birds or the flight path of the birds or bats. If they had, this topic probably wouldn't exist.

[shadowbot]

Yeah I think 99% of the time there are so many variables about what a new structure could interfere with that usually people dont find out the problems until things start going wrong.

[horselover]

You'd think that they'd wise up to that fact and actually think about it first. Watch the area and observe the local wildlife. Would make a lot of sense.

[Nicole107]

That's a tough one. If the turbine is up to high it might interfere with more than just bats. Like I'm thinking airplanes and helicopters that are flying over the area. Just thought I'd mention that... There so many things that could go wrong with wind energy, but unfortunately I think that's the case with most alternative energy supplies.

[horselover]

Good point Nicole. That's one thing that hadn't come up in our discussion before. None of us thought of it I guess. But it does pose a problem especially if the area is high traffic for any sort of flight.

They just have to figure out the best possible place for one and work around the issues that present themselves.

[mollyL]

Originally Posted by shadowbot

this is a quote from the article: "What happens if, in 10 years, wind energy is not working? Who is going to pay to bring them down? It's going to be the counties and the landowners."


What kind of ignorant people are they interviewing for these things if the people are thinking that in 10 years wind energy is not working?.




For this problem I think if they had the sonic devices that emit the same frequency as the bats echolocation attached to the blades, they could possibly fool the bats into thinking the wind turbines were solid walls instead of rotating blades, and maybe the bats would avoid them.

There are always ignorant types that can be stampeded with little effort; introduce a little doubt about anything and away they go, and it's not just environmentally this happens. Political, religious, even in the entertainment world, the suggestible are easy picikings.

[atula]

I think the sonic wave idea is the best by far...regarding the height...the wind energy rewuired to generate electricity has to come from strong winds..only available at a particular height...and then bats do fly low or high depending on where they are looking for a prey or something...so best is sonic waves which helps them think there is a wall ahead.....