[Chiron Rising]

I have found a little down side to wind power.....and it seems that it is not just here with our mills but elsewhere too:


http://www.coxwashington.com/reporte...ADV13_COX.html

I don't care about tourists nor live stock problems...but I do like bats, (the mosquitoes! think of the spread of disease etc..) hope we can over come this....but we don't have electrical house fans with exposed blades....maybe we need to cover them?.....would look funny....but it's a thought.

Or transmit a signal the bats can pick up to stay away?...but with our luck the aliens wound hear it a never visit lol !!! ;D

[Raptor235]

I'm sure there is a way to replel bats... sonic way would probably work best as you mentioned

[Matc]

There is a similar thing going on in the Isle of Lewis, they want to build Europes biggest on shore windfarm. It's on the migratory path of several endangered bird species so at first glance it appears illegal to do so as they are endangered. However the laws state that this can be ignored if it is seen to be a great benefit to society. As yet it still hasn't been approved. On the plus side it would produce 6% of the UK's 2010 target for renewable energy but there are ongoing arguments as to whether it will affect the migratory birds or not.

It's a tricky one.

[horselover]

I think they'd eventually learn to stay away from the blades, once they realize that they are deadly. Could take some time, but most animals are smart enough to learn.

[Matc]

It is just how much damage it will do in the mean time. Some birds are on the IUCN critically endangered list and some of the breeding pairs on the Island couldn't even afford one death.

[horselover]

That's true too. So the big issue is trying to find a way to keep the birds and bats safe. I agree with some sort of warning system. On Pelee island the grape farms have gunshot sounds every 10 minutes or so to scare off the birds. I wonder if they could implement some sort of system like that. Something that registers the flightpath of the bird or bat and sends out a warning noise. In the case of bats, it would have to be some sort of sonar. That may save some lives.

[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.

[filmchick]

With global warming as the recent focus in the media, it seems that wind power might be the answer to our growing energy demands. With the deaths of raptors in California and bats in the Appalchian region from the wind turbines it seems like it may not be the solution. Six week studies during the bat migratory season were conducted at Mountaineer wind energy facility as well as Meyersdale Wind Energy Facility and the findings estimated that between 2000-4000 bats were killed. This does not include the rest of the season, an entire bat migratory season is from April- Oct.

This issue has divided the environmental community and both sides disagree as to "how" to resolve the issue so bats and wind turbines can co-exist. New technologies like acoustical deterrance are currently being explored. There is a prototype that may be marketed to wind developers in the near future, but I think the much larger issue here is how the wind turbines and wind facilities are being sited. Also, what needs to be determined is the bats migratory route (most pass over ridges) to prevent further deaths from wind turbines.

I guess we have to determine how many bat deaths are enough to cause a change within the current "suggested" guidelines by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service.
http://www.fws.gov/habitatconservation/wind.pdf
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d05906....0guidelines%22

I think that a law definately needs to be passed to give at broad-based protection beyond caves. What do other people think about the guidelines and perhaps a new law to give bats more coverage?

For more information on this subject check out:
http://www.batcon.org/home/default.asp
http://www.batcon.org/home/index.asp?idPage=55
http://www.nationalwind.org/workgrou...fe/default.htm
http://www.awea.org/faq/tutorial/wwt_environment.html

[shadowbot]

Why not change the operating height of the ones in the Appalachian area, whats the highest bats fly?

[horselover]

YOu think they could do that? It might be difficult especially if there are specific height requirements for these.