Bat Killings by Wind Energy Turbines Continue

Wind Energy / Related Environmental Issues / Environmental Impact

Date posted: 06/09/16

Amy M. Amos, for Scientific American, reports that the wind industry plan to reduce deadly effects of turbine blades may not be enough, some scientists say. Thousands of bats are on the move in the evenings and early mornings. They flutter among the treetops, searching for insects to eat and roosts on which to rest. But some of the trees here are really metal towers, with 30-meter-long blades rotating at more than 80 kilometers per hour even in this light breeze. They are electricity-generating wind turbines, a great hope for renewable energy, but dangerous for bats. The flying animals (bat and birds) run into these spinning blades, or the rapid decrease in air pressure around the turbines can cause bleeding in their lungs. By morning, dozens will lay dead on the ground. Countless more will die at wind turbines all over the U.S. and Canada in the forests and fields of the Midwest and the windy prairies of the Great Plains, as well as all over the world. Much of this slaughter, the greatest threat to animals that are a vital link in our ecosystem, was supposed to end last year. In 2015, with great fanfare, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), a trade group, announced voluntary guidelines to limit turbines to low wind speeds, when bats are most active, which would save these animal lives. Conservationists praised the move. But some scientists say this promise falls short. The wind industry plan claims to reduce bat deaths by 30%, but holding the blades in check just a little longer could reduce deaths by up to 90% or more, a decade of research indicates, and would do so with little additional energy loss(?). A research review published in January of this year found that wind turbines are, by far, the largest cause of mass bat mortality around the world. White-nose syndrome, the deadly fungal disease that has decimated bat populations throughout the northeastern U.S., came in second.