We are all aware of the climate emergency we face, and one way to limit our impact is to switch to renewable energy sources, such as solar, hydro, tidal and wind. While this relatively new technology is a vast improvement on the oil, gas and coal power stations, in terms of the environmental impact, what is less well known is the impact this has on the living landscapes that these technologies are being installed in.
In East Anglia, we have a few wind farms and individual turbines dotted around the countryside, with several offshore farms around our coast. There have been reports from conservation organisations over the decades warning of the dangers to wildlife that these turbines pose, either from collisions with the blades themselves (which at the tip can be travelling at over 120mph), or through the base (sound created by the rotors has been shown to disrupt cetacean migrations and possibly contribute towards strandings).
Whilst wind turbines do account for a number of bird fatalities, this is insignificant when compared to fatalities caused by other human activities (such as collisions with windows, power lines, introduction of invasive species and hunting from feral cats). However, in areas with high concentrations of raptors, or on key migration routes, conservation organisations are voicing concerns over increasing numbers of wind farsm as the number of raptors being killed is significant.
https://www.cse.org.uk/downloads/reports-and-publications/planning/renewables/common_concerns_about_wind_power.pdf
In Spain vultures and eagles, which are significantly larger than most raptors, are still at risk of collision with wind turbines and being larger they can survive if found quickly. The Vulture Conservation Foundation in Europe and VulPro in Africa work with local rescues to rescue and rehabilitate these birds. Unfortunately, some of the injuries are severe, and loss of wings is the most common, which makes them unsuitable for release. However, vultures in captivity can live without a wing quite happily, so these birds are used as part of a captive breeding population, with their offspring being released back into the wild when ready.
https://www.4vultures.org/
https://vulpro.com/
However, a recent study published this year suggests there is a simple way to greatly reduce the number of fatal collisions with wind turbines. The study was carried out in Norway, and involved painting one blade of the turbines black. Over the course of the study, trained sniffer dogs were used to search the area around the turbines to find dead birds. A control area (with no painted blades) was also searched. They found a 70% reduction in the number of dead birds found in the area with painted blades.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.6592?fbclid=IwAR32Q9UAGGp5-mbo167gIdEr0Dn3j1FaxpjvgN8uNn7e6p59Hh0lQYvTGmM
This is exciting news and could have positive implications around the world, although the authors of the paper are keen to stress that this study was conducted at one site, and more trials would be needed before they formally recommend this to engineers. Whilst more trials are potentially costly when using established wind farms (as it’s difficult to paint the blades when they are in operation), in the future this cost would be significantly reduced if the paiting is done at the factory stage.
