Spanish Wind Farms Kill 6 to 18 Million

[lostinblue 1,989]

Spain’s 18,000 wind turbines may be killing 6 to 18 million birds and bats every year

Wind farms are not only a killer for reliable affordable energy, jobs and economic prosperity, they are also a killer for birds and bats.

The Golden Eagle is under threat from bird choppers in Oregon where licences allow the killing of protected bird species, as long as it is by approved Green industry. In Norway bird choppers are also killing Golden Eagles, while in Britain the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) sanctioned the killing of birds: “Any threat has to be weighed against the national imperative to develop green energy sources“.

Now in a new report by Save The Eagles International the true extent of bird deaths in Spain caused by bird choppers has for the first time been exposed:

On 12 January 2012, at the First Scientific Congress on Wind Energy and Wildlife Conservation in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, the Spanish Society of Ornithology (SEO/Birdlife) made public its estimate that, yearly, Spain’s 18,000 wind turbines may be killing 6 to 18 million birds and bats (1). The average per turbine comes down to 333 – 1,000 deaths annually, which is a far cry from the 2 – 4 birds claimed by the American wind industry, or the 400,000 birds a year estimated by the American Bird Conservancy for the whole United States, which has about twice as many turbines as Spain.

Green is just another word for hypocrite, they are Green when it suits them, specifically to stifle economic growth and personal freedoms, and good old fashioned liars when it comes to anything associated with their Climate Religion and the sacred renewables industry.

Bats are included in the Birdlife estimate, comments Mark Duchamp, president of Save the Eagles International (STEI). “Therefore, supposing for example that wind farms would kill twice as many bats as they do birds, the figures would be: 111 – 333 birds per turbine per year, and 222 – 666 bats per turbine/year. The mortality figures that were recorded in Germany and Sweden in the early nineties are not unusual after all”, he notes. Quoting from a California Energy Commission study: “In a summary of avian impacts at wind turbines by Benner et al. (1993) bird deaths per turbine per year were as high as 309 in Germany and 895 in Sweden.” (2)

Duchamp has always maintained that earlier studies, made when bird mortality at windfarms wasn’t such a hot potatoe, were more credible than recent ones. “It is a curious business where those consultants who find or predict the lowest mortality land all the contracts. This is what is being asked of them, and this is what they do.

Someone else has noticed the Green hypocrisy where only consultants that give the pre-determined answers are employed.

The full press release including links to supporting documents can be downloaded Here (PDF)

http://toryaardvark.com/2012/01/16/spanish-wind-farms-kill-6-to-18-million-birds-bats-every-year/

[Darnell 8,479]

what are these estimates? screw that - somebody needs to do a body count, instead.

[GandK 168]

yawn....

Glass windows has been estimated to kill 100-900 millions birds a year.

Hell, house cats kill 100 millions birds a year.

http://www.currykerlinger.com/birds.htm

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Greenies don't seem to have a problem slaughtering wild life as long as they get cheap energy in return.

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

From a source that seems a tad less biased:

In the past couple of decades, turbine designs have changed dramatically. Turbine blades are now solid, meaning no lattice structure to attract birds looking to perch. Also, the blades' surface area is much larger, so they don't have to spin as fast to generate power. Slower-moving blades mean fewer bird collisions.

Perhaps the biggest change in wind-farm safety, though, has to do with location. Now, all new turbine proposals are reviewed for ideal, bird-friendly placement. Wind farms cannot be built in migratory pathways, in areas with high bird populations, or in areas with special features that could possibly attract high bird populations in the future. Also, the growing trend toward offshore turbine construction bodes well for birds, since offshore wind farms have fewer bird collisions than land-based farms.

Possibly the greatest indicator that wind turbines are not, in fact, bird-o-matics, is the growing number of endorsements by bird conservation groups. The American Bird Conservancy supports wind power with the caveat that bird-friendly placement and design be primary factors in construction [source: ABC]. The Wisconsin Bird Initiative states that wind turbines have a "low impact" on avian mortality compared to window glass and communication towers [source: WBCI]. And in 2006, the Audubon Society gave its figurative seal of approval to the American Wind Energy Association. The president of the national organization is quoted by Renewable Energy World as stating, "When you look at a wind turbine, you can find the bird carcasses and count them. With a coal-fired power plant, you can't count the carcasses, but it's going to kill a lot more birds" [source: REW].

Read the full article here: http://science.howst...kill-birds1.htm

Edited January 18, 2012 by OnMyWayID