Researchers in Oregon are using a federal grant of over half a million dollars to figure out how to stop wind turbines from killing thousands of birds every year.
Researchers at Oregon State University were awarded a 27-month, $625,000 grant from the Department of Energy Wind Technology Office in May 2017 with one goal in mind: Develop a system that can prevent wind turbines from killing golden eagles and other birds.
Wind energy technology — despite being touted as an environmentally-friendly source of renewable energy — is estimated to kill well over 100,000 birds every year. With new wind farms being built across the U.S., that number is only expected to rise.
“It is critical to help the species survive,” Oregon State University associate professor of mechanical engineering Roberto Albertani said in a statement to the Associated Press. Albertani is on the team at OSU looking for a solution.
Albertani and his team are working on an ongoing project that might prevent windmills from chopping birds in half as they fly through the air. Such a prevention system includes a sensor that can be mounted on the tower of a wind turbine and detect nearby birds.
If a bird is determined to be in danger of getting sliced, the sensor can trigger a deterrence mechanism on the ground to scare it away. Another sensor can ultimately confirm if the bird collided with the blades or not.
If successful, such a solution would solve a problem that has befuddled wind energy proponents — many of whom claim that the number of bird fatalities by windmills are exaggerated, and argue that other factors, such as household pets, kill birds at a higher rate.
While cats are estimated to kill a staggering one to four billion birds per year, these birds are typically small and abundant, such as pigeons, sparrows, and robins.
Wind turbines, on the other hand, kill larger, rarer birds, like the red-tailed hawk, the American kestrel, and the golden eagle. These type of birds are not only more endangered, but they are slower to reproduce — which means premature deaths cause much more of an impact on their species.
“Could these problems be avoided with better siting and technology innovation?” asked environmental activist Michael Shellenberger, a sharp critic of wind energy technology. “The answer is ‘maybe a little sometimes’ — but almost always at a very high cost.”
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Beware of the Chemtrails
The best way to protect birds from the windmills is not to have them. The power is expensive and in places like Germany have driven the cost of power to very high levels. They require a back fossil fuel plant idling for when the wind doesn’t blow.
However, if the windmills exist, research to protect the birds is in order. Research on how to prevent large birds from getting electrocute on power lines came up with some good ideas. Perhaps we can also get lucky with windmills.
The aerial spraying of nano-particles of aluminum in the air, which is apparently a secret program that involves DARPA, the army, and other agencies, is ostensibly to combat global warming by blocking the sun with particles to create global cooling. it’s hard to imagine a more sinister environmental plot, since aluminum is one of the most potent neurotoxins known to man. Now we have a die off on flying insects! I read recently in the Wall Street Journal that there is a 75 % reduction in flying insects, that is NOT DUE TO GLOBAL WARMING, but some other cause. Bees have been found with aluminum in their neurons… Now I can’t hear crickets at night anymore. I open my door with the lights on and no moths fly in, no mosquito hawks, no strange and exotic insect visitors of unknown genre. The insects are no more. Could it be due to the cult of global warming, that isn’t even scientifically valid and yet is wiping out species for its own purposes. So… with no insects, how soon will it be before the birds die? And I lived through DDT, and nothing has been more deadly than curing global warming.
Get the book Eco-Freaks by John Berlau and read some facts about DDT its got some pretty good chapters in it
Rachel Carson is turning over in her grave. Her diatribe vs DDT was because of its supposed negative effects on avians. She alone with ‘Silent Spring’ was one of the major drivers of the environmental movement that has come full circle. Spare us the Dudley Do Rights with their tunnel vision.
It’s really quite simple. See that big spinny thing on top? If you stop that from spinning, the bird killing will also be stopped.
And it will have hardly any effect on the power generated. Trust me, I’m a doctor and I wear a white coat to work.
^^^^THIS!^^^^
I am sure that after 2 weeks of meetings in Maui the group will find that an additional $2 million will be required to find out that to stop birds from being killed we should not build wind turbines.
Let’s ignore the bird cuisinart called wind turbines. Nevermind that. Green green, etc. Nothing to see here. Keep it moving…
As we all know harming or killing a Eagle is a Federal Crimes and you can go to jail now should’nt the owners of these wind turbines be help accountible and liable for this the facts that many Eco-Wackos support these Bird Maimers
Obama deliberately gave the windmill companies freedom from those conservation regulations. They don’t even have to provide stats on the number of carcasses they find every morning.