5 ms·

That chart is based on data from 2003! Recently, for one Scottish installation, government reports indicated "that more than 1,000 gannets would perish in the

That chart is based on data from 2003! Recently, for one Scottish installation, government reports indicated "that more than 1,000 gannets would perish in the turbines each week, along with a similar number of puffins and hundreds of kittiwakes [1]." Many birders and environmentalists are very concerned about this issue [2]. The video footage of a bird attracted to a turbine's blades is fascinating. [1] https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/may/20/scotland-birds-at-risk-windfarms-gannets-kittiwakes-puffins https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/may/20/scotland-bir... [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMfyJmSuOGM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMfyJmSuOGM

russdill 9y ago
Here's updated data: http://www.ace-eco.org/vol8/iss2/art11/ http://www.ace-eco.org/vol8/iss2/art11/ Wind power kills far fewer birds than a wide range of human activities, including other forms of power generation even when compared per GWhr.
- matthewmarkus 9y ago
  Let's assume a turbine kills 4 birds per year [1]. Globally, 341,320 turbines are spinning around the world as of 2016 [2]. That's 1,365,280 deaths per year to generate roughly 4% of the world's energy [3]. Put another way, bird deaths due to wind power have been growing at 34% annually. That may make wind power one the fastest growing bird killers on the planet! It's especially worrisome if the birds affected are disproportionately large birds. I'm not quite ready to give the technology a free pass. [1] https://m.phys.org/news/2017-06-farms-bird-slayers-theyre-behere.html https://m.phys.org/news/2017-06-farms-bird-slayers-theyre-be... [2] http://gwec.net/global-figures/wind-in-numbers/ http://gwec.net/global-figures/wind-in-numbers/ [3] http://windenergyfoundation.org/about-wind-energy/faqs/ http://windenergyfoundation.org/about-wind-energy/faqs/

russdill 9y ago

Here's updated data: http://www.ace-eco.org/vol8/iss2/art11/ http://www.ace-eco.org/vol8/iss2/art11/ Wind power kills far fewer birds than a wide range of human activities, including other forms of power generation even when compared per GWhr.

matthewmarkus 9y ago
Let's assume a turbine kills 4 birds per year [1]. Globally, 341,320 turbines are spinning around the world as of 2016 [2]. That's 1,365,280 deaths per year to generate roughly 4% of the world's energy [3]. Put another way, bird deaths due to wind power have been growing at 34% annually. That may make wind power one the fastest growing bird killers on the planet! It's especially worrisome if the birds affected are disproportionately large birds. I'm not quite ready to give the technology a free pass. [1] https://m.phys.org/news/2017-06-farms-bird-slayers-theyre-behere.html https://m.phys.org/news/2017-06-farms-bird-slayers-theyre-be... [2] http://gwec.net/global-figures/wind-in-numbers/ http://gwec.net/global-figures/wind-in-numbers/ [3] http://windenergyfoundation.org/about-wind-energy/faqs/ http://windenergyfoundation.org/about-wind-energy/faqs/