--- Evan Craig <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Date: Mon, 4 Oct 2004 08:52:10 -0500 > From: Evan Craig <[log in to unmask]> > Subject: Re: Wind turbine tragedy - ridges and bats; > new research findings > To: > [log in to unmask] > > This is worrisome news for bats, but the way it is > being reported is > worrisome for wind energy. The articles below name > RIDGETOP siting as the > peril to bats, but the photo (worth 1000 words) in > the BATS magazine article > clearly shows a windfarm in flat farmfields. The > further polarization of the > issue of big power vs. environmentalists below is > also alarming. If > environmentalists really want wind developers to > team up with us, we have to > be scrupulously fair, and clear in our resolve to > prevent global extinction > caused by global warming through conservation and > alternative energy. It > costs a million bucks each to put up a big turbine, > and we should respect > the lost revenue consequences of asking them to idle > one, and work > creatively with them to devise solutions that have a > more productive > conclusion than abandoning wind resources. The > conference described in the > article is on the right track: Why are bats unable > to avoid turbine blades? > Are they unable to echo-locate them? Why? Could a > blade tip whistle or > echo-reflector reduce the problem? > > I understand the difficulty of getting good data, > but that's not an excuse > for sloppy reporting. The article says that and > ESTIMATED 2092 bats had been > killed. That estimated number is then extrapolated > to 4000. Below I see that > the extrapolated number is taken as an estimate and > further extrapolated to > 8000, and then to 30,000. Nowhere do I see the > actual count of bats killed > per wind turbine, or the area of impact to help put > it into perspective. > What is the range of a bat? How many bats live in a > square mile of forest? > Are there bat migration corridors? How many bats > migrate through them? How > serious is this really? > > Thanks, > Evan Craig > Chair > Sierra Club Woods & Wetlands Group > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Wildlife and Endangered Species Forum > [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On > Behalf Of Dan Boone > Sent: Monday, October 04, 2004 1:37 AM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Wind turbine tragedy - ridges and bats; new > research findings > > > Greetings... > > The attached article from Sunday's Charleston > Gazette-Mail reports that a > very large number of bats were killed this summer at > the 44 wind turbines on > Backbone Mountain in WV (Mountaineer Wind Energy > Center) and at the 20 > turbines next to Meyersdale, PA. It quotes Dr. > Merlin Tuttle, Executive > Director of Bat Conservation International. Dr. > Tuttle previously estimated > that nearly 4000 bats were killed in 2003 at the > Mountaineer project during > its first year of operation - see: > http://www.safewind.com/pdf/Bats_windmills_BCI_article.pdf > . > > Bat Conservation International is now investigating > the problem in > collaboration with the American Wind Energy > Association, the US Fish and > Wildlife Service, and several wind plant > developers/operators - > see: http://www.awea.org/news/news040303bat.html . > Despite the vaunted > collaborative effort, it is rumored that Florida > Power & Light Energy, the > owner/operator of the wind plants that BCI has been > studying, refused to > allow some of their turbines to be "locked down" and > therefore BCI was > unable to test a promising theory that a slowly > spinning rotor may kill many > more bats than stationary blades. Apparently the > nation's largest wind > energy company prefers not to know the answers to > certain questions... > > Perhaps today's newspaper article may help influence > the Maryland Public > Service Commission's evaluation of a permit > application for a new wind plant > in Maryland. The wind energy developer (Synergics) > has proposed a forested > ridgetop site located only a few miles north of and > on the same ridge as the > wind energy facility in WV that likely killed nearly > 8,000 bats during its > first 2 years in operation. > > Developers may be allowed to construct almost 1,000 > turbines - mostly on > forested ridgetops - in PA, MD, WV and VA during the > coming year; spurred on > by the recent extension of the Production Tax Credit > (which provides a large > subsidy to industrial wind plants), and helped along > by lax or non-existent > project evaluation and siting requirements for wind > energy facilities. > > Some excerpts from the attached article: > > "It's safe to say the mortality was no less and was > probably higher than > last year," Tuttle said. > > "It was at least as high and it occurred at two > locations and they are both > forested ridgetops. We don't know any forested > ridgetops with turbines in > North America where we don't have a problem." > > These findings suggest that any wind plant built on > a forested ridgetop, > such as two Grant County projects already approved > by the state Public > Service Commission, would be likely to kill large > numbers of bats." > > "If I were an investor and wanted to keep my green > image intact, I would be > deeply concerned about building turbines on forested > ridgetops," Tuttle > said. "The bottom-line concern is, there's just no > question if we keep > putting turbines on ridgetops before the solutions > are known, there will > continue to be bat kills." > > See also: http://www.batcon.org/wind/ for more > info. > > Dan Boone > > > > > > > > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > - - - - - - To get off > the CONS-WPST-WES-FORUM list, send any message to: > [log in to unmask] > > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > - - - - - - > To view the Sierra Club List Terms & Conditions, > see: > http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/terms.asp > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To view the Sierra Club List Terms & Conditions, see: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/terms.asp