Wind Power News: Wildlife
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch. They are the products of and owned by the organizations or individuals noted and are shared here according to “fair use” and “fair dealing” provisions of copyright law.
Illinois bats threatened by disease, shrinking habitat, wind turbines
“In a nutshell, most bat species in N. America are not doing well,” Andrew King, a fish and wildlife biologist in the wildlife service’s Indiana field office in Bloomington, Indiana, said in an email. “They’ve been hit by a double whammy of white-nose syndrome and wind energy. WNS has killed millions of bats of multiple species that hibernate during the winter and an ever-growing number of wind turbines continues to kill thousands of bats every fall as they migrate south for the winter.” Complete story »
Waarom vaker dode bruinvissen rondom offshore windparken?
[Why are dead porpoises found more often around offshore wind farms? (translate article to English)] “Hoe kan het dat we vaker dode bruinvissen vangen rondom offshore windparken?”, vraagt Art-Jan van der Plas (WR 244 en KW 5). Tim Haasnoot van Vistikhetmaar zoekt het uit. Vissers melden steeds vaker dat ze rondom offshore windmolenparken dode bruinvissen vangen. Om op zoek te gaan naar een antwoord zijn zeezoogdierexperts Mardik Leopold van Wageningen Marine Research en Lonneke IJsseldijk van Universiteit Utrecht ingeschakeld. Bij het . . . Complete story »
Charix – Le projet de parc éolien ne verra pas le jour
[Charix wind project will not see light of day – abandoned due to impact on golden eagles (translate article to English)] Le projet de parc éolien, conduit par la CNR, a été abandonné en raisonde son éventuel impact sur la biodiversité de la commune. Le projet de parc éolien, né en 2015 des volontés conjointes de la Ville de Charix et de la Compagnie nationale du Rhône (CNR), a été abandonné la semaine dernière en raison de la découverte inopinée d’un . . . Complete story »
A not-so happy Halloween for Maryland’s struggling bat population
Maryland bats, specifically migrating bats, have also struggled due to the increase in wind farms. Because bats are blind and utilize echolocation to fly around, they are not good at judging the speeds of the wind turbines, Feller said. As a result, they accidentally fly into the turbines and die. The turbines can also lead to barometric trauma deaths in bats, Limpert said. The bats are attracted to the turbines but experience a sharp dip in pressure that causes their internal organs to explode. Wind farms have become a “significant source of mortality” for migratory bats, Feller said. Complete story »
‘Wind farms threat’ to key wildlife areas
Huge swathes of hillside and forestry across Mid Wales could be lost to wind farms, the Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales says. The Montgomery branch of the organisation warned today that the Welsh Government’s draft National Development Framework contains renewable energy plans to industrialise vast new areas of our countryside and says that worryingly there are more than five thousand acres of Mid Wales forest listed for sale with an option agreement for wind energy development. It is . . . Complete story »
Biologist to speak on effect of wind turbines on black bears
BENNINGTON – Jaclyn Comeau, a wildlife biologist with the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, will talk about the research she has been conducting on the effect of wind turbines on the black bear population at 2 p.m. Oct. 20 at the Bennington Museum. The talk is a program of the Bennington Historical Society, and is free and open to the public. For many years, Comeau has been studying the effects of wind turbines on the black bear population in Searsburg and . . . Complete story »
Oahu windfarm seeking increase in authorized bat deaths
Kawailoa Wind, LLC, has been operating five miles north of Haleiwa since 2012. The company is asking regulators to increase the number of endangered species it can legally kill by its presence. The project’s 30 turbines generate enough electricity to power around 14-thousand homes, but they can also be fatal for the Hawaiian hoary bat and the Hawaiian petrel, both of which are endangered. The wind farm operates under a Habitat Conservation Plan, approved by federal and state regulators, and . . . Complete story »
Wind: Court rejects challenge to Calif. farm
Federal judges today dismissed a challenge to a large wind farm near San Diego, rejecting claims that agencies did not adequately weigh potential impacts on bald eagles and other birds. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Land Management conducted the legally required “hard look” at alternatives before approving the Tule Wind LLC project. Tule Wind plans to build 85 wind turbines about 60 miles east of San Diego. The project . . . Complete story »
Oregon State study says wind turbines threaten migrating bats
BEND – A Pacific Northwest bat that that migrates south for the winter faces a serious threat from wind turbines, according to a study by the by Oregon State University—Cascades. The study concludes that the hoary bat faces an uncertain future because its numbers have declined by 2% per year, the Bend Bulletin reports. Collisions with propellers on wind farms kill bats, said Tom Rodhouse, one of the authors, an ecologist with the National Park Service and a courtesy faculty member . . . Complete story »
Hoary bat numbers decline amid wind turbine expansion
Bats are facing multiple threats in the Pacific Northwest as both white-nose syndrome and wind turbines are threatening to decimate their population numbers, according to a study by Oregon State University—Cascades. The hoary bat – which does not hibernate but instead migrates south for the winter – faces an uncertain future because its numbers have declined at a rate of 2% per year, according to Tom Rodhouse, one of the authors of the study. The cause of the hoary bat decline is . . . Complete story »
