Wind Farms and Bat deaths. (1 Viewer)

This may not apply to Bats in Britain, but a friend of mine in the USA has been working on maintenence of generators attached to wind turbines in Washington, USA.

He noted that some birds had been killed by the blades, but was very surprised to see large numbers of dead bats in the very near vicinity of these wind turbines, most of which had, apparently, been hit by the blades. If a bat cannot avoid them a bird has little chance.

Has anyone in Britain done any work on this form of bat fatality? Or, has anyone even noted that this is happening at all?

Harry

It's worth bearing in mind Harry that the blades of these turbines are travelling at about 170 mph (or more) at the tips. If you miss one, another will be along in about two-thirds of a second. Hard for anything to get out of the way of them.

harry eales said:

This may not apply to Bats in Britain, but a friend of mine in the USA has been working on maintenence of generators attached to wind turbines in Washington, USA.

He noted that some birds had been killed by the blades, but was very surprised to see large numbers of dead bats in the very near vicinity of these wind turbines, most of which had, apparently, been hit by the blades. If a bat cannot avoid them a bird has little chance.

Has anyone in Britain done any work on this form of bat fatality? Or, has anyone even noted that this is happening at all?

Harry

Click to expand...

Actually the main difference is between daylight and darkness, so with the exception of migrating birds and owls most actually will have a better chance of avoiding being hit.

Bat sonar is not likely to provide the peripheral vision necessary to avoid a threat coming fast from the side or behind (I once hit a bat with the car, it came across the road diagonally and I hit it from behind.)

John

The size of the hazard must also be a factor. The swept area of the blades of each turbine is the size of a premiership football pitch in the case of the new machines being erected these days.

Alan Seaton said:

The size of the hazard must also be a factor. The swept area of the blades of each turbine is the size of a premiership football pitch in the case of the new machines being erected these days.

Click to expand...

Wow - put like that it's so scary. Hope someone with some clout takes these comments on board.

Sandra|=(| ||

surely the design could accomodate a grille that lets air through but not animals, like an electric fan.. Oh no.. it would cost a bit more, stupid me!

gyrfalcon said:

surely the design could accomodate a grille that lets air through but not animals, like an electric fan.. Oh no.. it would cost a bit more, stupid me!

Click to expand...

A grille that's big enough and strong enough to accomodate a 100m diameter fan-disc, with enough space inside it to allow it to rotate through 360 degrees to allow the turbine to keep facing the wind from all directions, while supported 120m above the ground at its top, with small enough mesh to keep bats and birds out, but large enough gaps to let all the wind through unhindered...I don't think cost is the main obstacle, but if you know better, get designing - you'll become rich.

harry eales said:

This may not apply to Bats in Britain, but a friend of mine in the USA has been working on maintenence of generators attached to wind turbines in Washington, USA.

He noted that some birds had been killed by the blades, but was very surprised to see large numbers of dead bats in the very near vicinity of these wind turbines, most of which had, apparently, been hit by the blades. If a bat cannot avoid them a bird has little chance.

Has anyone in Britain done any work on this form of bat fatality? Or, has anyone even noted that this is happening at all?

Harry

Click to expand...

Hi Harry
We agree with your concerns. I think that the truth of the matter is no one knows what these monstrosities are doing to our environment and wildlife and if they do they are not saying. They are being thrown up on the back of big government subsidies with everyone thinking they are green. I bet no one monitors the fatalities which lie beneath them, does anyone know if they are monitored? It would need to be done on a daily basis to look for bat kill carrion, ants etc would soon dispose of the remains.
The environmental Impact reports are not worth the paper they are written on. We know this because we are currently fighting a 26 X 138 metre turbine development. These people who do the environmental assessments make no attempt to seek local knowledge/expertise. They turn up for half an hour a couple of times they are paid by the developers! We know this for a fact.
We are presently using a bat detector and doing our own environmental surveys in the hopes that if they dare to put in for planning permission we shall have documented evidence to fight our cause. We are here in Norfolk becoming surrounded by turbine projects! If these turbines do not directly kill the birds they displace them and with over 200 proposals for turbines in the pipeline for our county where are they going to go?
Regards Kim

Alan Seaton said:

A grille that's big enough and strong enough to accomodate a 100m diameter fan-disc, with enough space inside it to allow it to rotate through 360 degrees to allow the turbine to keep facing the wind from all directions, while supported 120m above the ground at its top, with small enough mesh to keep bats and birds out, but large enough gaps to let all the wind through unhindered...I don't think cost is the main obstacle, but if you know better, get designing - you'll become rich.

Click to expand...

I was thinking more in terms of the domestic type wind generators that are likely to be situated on house roofs near bat roosts, and have potential to wipe out entire colonies, as opposed to the mammoth 100m jobs! my fault, should have been a bit clearer.

If we are talking the big wind turbines, then I suspect Noctules and Leisler's would be the only species flying at that height? and therefore the main victim. As it stands it sounds like a major risk for them. The small domestic type you can buy at B&Q and fix to the roof of your garage could wipe out all the species in the neighbourhood.

see http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav/skins/popups/scene7.jsp?skuId=9705613

(These could have an electric fan like grill fitted i'm fairly confident!)