Here’s what we know about modern windmills:
- Dead bats are turning up beneath wind turbines all over the world. Bat fatalities have now been documented at nearly every wind facility in North America where adequate surveys for bats have been conducted, and several of these sites are estimated to cause the deaths of thousands of bats per year. This unanticipated and unprecedented problem for bats has moved to the forefront of conservation and management efforts directed toward this poorly understood group of mammals. The mystery of why bats die at turbine sites remains unsolved. Is it a simple case of flying in the wrong place at the wrong time? Are bats attracted to the spinning turbine blades? Why are so many bats colliding with turbines compared to their infrequent crashes with other tall, human-made structures?
Dead bats = more bugs = more insecticides
So green!
I think it should be called the Fluorescein (or Uranine WSS) Movement. More appropiate color.
There’s also the myth of them being essentially maintenance free. (They do look somewhat like a large lit candle stick when the control oil fails, or some other problem.) Also they tend to produce electricity exactly when we don’t need it; at night and in the shoulder months. (shoulder months: spring and autumn, not much heating or air conditioning.)
Pingback: A Few Random Morning Links … | The Pretense of Knowledge