Clean energy doesn't have to be
deadly.
Secretary of the Interior Ryan
Zinke recently falsely claimed that wind turbines kill 750,000 birds each
year. In actuality, wind turbines kill a little more than 350,000birds annually — which is far fewer than
cars, house cats, or plate-glass
windows put to death. What’s the biggest threat to our flying
friends? According to the Audubon
Society, it’s climate change.
Of course, to draw down
heat-trapping carbon pollution, we need to ramp up wind
power by an order of magnitude, which will put a lot more birds in danger.
Fortunately, it seems scientists have found a fix. Researchers at the College
of William & Mary have built an innovative device that alerts birds in
danger of crashing into a wind turbine.
“There’s a lot of interest in
developing near-shore or offshore wind energy. Putting large, rotating
structures that look like mincemeat-makers in the sky isn’t going to be good
for the birds,” said biologist John Swaddle, at the annual meeting of
the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Swaddle wants to equip
turbines with his new invention, the Acoustic Lighthouse, which warns bird to
look up before it’s too late.
No comments:
Post a Comment