Re: Wind Farms Don't Bother Birds
- From: Ron <ron@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 02 Oct 2008 22:28:41 -0700
On Thu, 2 Oct 2008 13:36:05 -0400, "Joan F \(MI\)"
<jjfahl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Study eases fear about wind farm threat to birds
Wed Oct 1, 2008 8:53am EDT
LONDON (Reuters) - Wind turbines do not drive birds from surrounding areas,
British researchers said on Wednesday, in findings which could make it
easier to build more wind farms.
Conservation groups have raised fears that large birds could get caught in
the turbines and that the structures could disturb other species.
But scientists found only one of the 23 species studied, the pheasant, was
affected during their survey of two wind farms in eastern England.
The findings published in the Journal of Applied Ecology could help
government and business efforts to boost the number of wind farms as a way
to increase production of renewable energy.
"This is the first evidence suggesting that the present and future location
of large numbers of wind turbines on European farmland is unlikely to have
detrimental effects on farmland birds," Mark Whittingham, whose team from
Newcastle University carried out the research, said in a statement.
"This should be welcome news for nature conservationists, wind energy
companies and policy makers."
The survey studied the impact of two wind farms on about 3,000 birds in the
area, including five species of conservation concern -- the yellowhammer,
the Eurasian tree sparrow, the corn bunting, the Eurasian skylark and the
common reed bunting.
The researchers recorded the density of birds at different distances from
the turbines and found that aside from the pheasant, the structures posed no
problems.
The new findings are important because the European Union is committed to
generating 20 percent of its energy from renewable resources by 2020 and is
also seeking to boost biodiversity.
The study did not look at the danger of the birds colliding with the
turbines, which has been a worry of conservationists, Whittingham said.
Spanish utility Iberdrola, Germany's E.ON and Scottish & Southern Energy all
operate wind farms.
In August, Czech power group CEZ announced plans to build the biggest
onshore wind park in Europe.
(Reporting by Michael Kahn; Editing by Avril Ormsby)
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Depends on where you do your study. See:
http://www.canhydro.com/projects/wolfeislandwind/planning_docs/BSC_Bird_Report(May2004).pdf
Anywhere from 10 to 1,000 birds a month are killed by wind turbines in
the U.S.
Ron
.
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