News
Bats & blades: More research needed on bat, wind farm fatalities
Laura Ellison is an ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Fort Collins, Colorado, who has spent the last 20 years studying bats and other small mammals. Earlier this month she presented on the bat and wind farm issue at the North America Congress for Conservation Biology.
"The newer, larger turbines seem to be worse for bats," Ellison said.
July 30, 2012
by Dan Haugen
in Midwest Energy News
Altamont Pass in California is one of the world's largest wind farms - and most notorious among bird lovers. Much of the anxiety around wind turbines and raptor collisions comes from the large number of eagle fatalities reported from this single cluster of wind farms east of the Bay Area.
In 2005, the wind farms' operator sought to reduce bird deaths by replacing 126 turbines with 26 larger ones that rotated more slowly and that were spaced farther apart. Over the next few years, bird collisions with the newer turbines were 66 percent lower compared to the older turbines.
| < prev | next > |
Note: this article may be subject to the Fair Use Notice.