Posted by Kromey at 3:18pm Dec 28 '08We all know the devastating ecological impact of hydroelectric damns. It's hardly even discussed anymore when the topic of renewable energy comes up. No, anymore the big players are solar and wind. Geothermal comes up from time-to-time as well, and honestly I don't know why it doesn't come up more - it's perfectly viable for regions that can support it. Maybe that's why it doesn't - you pretty much gotta live on top of a volcano or a natural hot springs to have access to this power source.
Wind and solar, though, are viable virtually anywhere. And with no negative consequences, either!
Oh really?
Turns out, wind turbines kill bats without ever making contact. The brighter of the renewables push were concerned about birds getting caught in the turbines and torn apart brutally, but were happily surprised to discover that birds simply avoid the things entirely - very few avian fatalities tied to wind farms.
Bats are another story, unfortunately. Strangely, the vast majority of bat corpses at the bases of turbines all over the country did not die from being hit by the turbines. Many sustained post-mortem impact injuries from hitting the ground, but most did not get hit by the turbines at all. So what killed them?
Turns out, it's the wind currents produced by the turbines. More specifically, the sudden pocket of low pressure caused the bats' lungs to explode.
Then on the heels of this murderous discovery, we learn that wind turbines are altering ocean currents, potentially leading to huge plankton blooms that in turn attract the infamous red tide. Granted, these predictions are limited to only the largest of the off-shore wind farms, but it is yet another unforeseen consequence of wind power.
This isn't a witch hunt. I'm not out to discredit wind power and say that we need to just keep burning fossil fuels.
It's a warning.
We find ourselves dependent upon a power source that is dirty and destructive and running out because we thought we'd found a limitless supply of power with no consequences. We didn't understand then the huge ecological impact we might have by burning coal and oil. We didn't realize then that we were beginning to mine to extinction a limited source of energy.
We didn't realize 5 years ago that wind turbines would kill scores of bats and bring in the deadly red tide.
I've said from the beginning that we need to be careful of the unforeseen consequences as we press forward with renewable energy. We've for the most part turned our backs on hydroelectric because of the ecological damage it does; we need to be careful that as we press forward with other technologies we don't do even more harm to the environment.
Wind and solar, though, are viable virtually anywhere. And with no negative consequences, either!
Oh really?
Turns out, wind turbines kill bats without ever making contact. The brighter of the renewables push were concerned about birds getting caught in the turbines and torn apart brutally, but were happily surprised to discover that birds simply avoid the things entirely - very few avian fatalities tied to wind farms.
Bats are another story, unfortunately. Strangely, the vast majority of bat corpses at the bases of turbines all over the country did not die from being hit by the turbines. Many sustained post-mortem impact injuries from hitting the ground, but most did not get hit by the turbines at all. So what killed them?
Turns out, it's the wind currents produced by the turbines. More specifically, the sudden pocket of low pressure caused the bats' lungs to explode.
Then on the heels of this murderous discovery, we learn that wind turbines are altering ocean currents, potentially leading to huge plankton blooms that in turn attract the infamous red tide. Granted, these predictions are limited to only the largest of the off-shore wind farms, but it is yet another unforeseen consequence of wind power.
This isn't a witch hunt. I'm not out to discredit wind power and say that we need to just keep burning fossil fuels.
It's a warning.
We find ourselves dependent upon a power source that is dirty and destructive and running out because we thought we'd found a limitless supply of power with no consequences. We didn't understand then the huge ecological impact we might have by burning coal and oil. We didn't realize then that we were beginning to mine to extinction a limited source of energy.
We didn't realize 5 years ago that wind turbines would kill scores of bats and bring in the deadly red tide.
I've said from the beginning that we need to be careful of the unforeseen consequences as we press forward with renewable energy. We've for the most part turned our backs on hydroelectric because of the ecological damage it does; we need to be careful that as we press forward with other technologies we don't do even more harm to the environment.