Wind Turbines Would Save Wildlife If Painted Purple: Loughborough University Study

BBC :

A study has revealed that a wind turbine's colour affects how many insects it attracts, shedding more light on why the turbines occasionally kill bats and birds.

Read the whole story: BBC

Comments

[captains]

04:51 PM on 10/19/2010

It's very important that we continue to research the impact wind turbines have on wildlife. There's a great video about the incredible precautions being taken by wind farms to protect birds, bats, and other aspects of the local environments here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf4jc4BUamk

(disclaimer: the company that produces these videos is a client of mine)

[Neon Knight]

04:09 AM on 10/17/2010

The biggest design issues affecting bird strikes are pylon type and blade RPM. The first involves old open scaffolded pylons versus modern fully enclosed pylons. The first studies regarding bird strikes involved older turbines like around Altamont Pass with their open frame structures. Later studies which looked at newer closed structure pylons showed far fewer bird strikes. Additionally, the RPMs of the blades was changed from the older systems and again the newer systems showed far fewer bird strikes. And yet people still cling to the notions proposed in the earlier studies and believe that modern wind farms pose a significant threat to birds when it simply isn't true.

[m1jones]

10:24 PM on 10/16/2010

This article in the BBC is absolute Bee Ess. Wind farms are located where winds are strongest. Migrating birds ride on winds in the wind corridors and are inadvertently drawn into the death blades - thousands upon thousands every day. The only way to affect the wind farms harmful impacts to wild life is to make them rotate more slowly which reduces the amount of energy they make. Bats are dying en masse all over the world from another fungus. Mother Nature is really angry at us - first the bees and now the bats. I don't know why there would be more insects around the wind turbines. Perhaps the insects are also taking advantage of the naturl wind currents. The Green section is overwhelmed by poor science.

[tiredofthesameoldstuff]

10:41 PM on 10/16/2010

Actually the newer designs have less bird deaths despite gaining more energy.

[ThinkCreeps]

06:41 AM on 10/18/2010

I'm not sure speed makes any difference - the birds would still cop it if they got hit by a blade at half the speed. The area swept per blade per unit time must be the figure of demerit for bird despatch.

[cjohnathan]

09:21 PM on 10/16/2010

republicans will never want to spring for the purple paint...

[WYHKTai-Tai]

04:04 AM on 10/18/2010

Good Gracious, NO! It would be an endorsement of Tinky-Winky and all that he stands for!

[Tommygun264]

07:51 PM on 10/16/2010

Another answer is cone-shaped mag-lev vertical wind turbines. They are not only safer for wildlife, but are more efficient at generating power, creating significant electrical output from light breezes as low as 5 mph.

[m1jones]

10:27 PM on 10/16/2010

Vertical axis wind blades are far less efficient in generation power than blades on a horizontal axis. What you are saving has not been substantiated by actual measurements in the field. The blades on vertical axis do not kill fewer birds. Where did you get your information?

[Tommygun264]

11:37 PM on 10/16/2010

Horizontal axis wind turbines are only more efficient in higher-speed winds. Vertical axis maglev wind turbines with solid, sail-like blades and a conical shape not only capture and produce more power in low velocity winds, but their conical sail shape creates a solid-looking silhouette as opposed to vertical axis turbines with large gaps between their blades which can appear transparent to birds when spinning in high winds. Check out this maglev vertical axis turbine, which has the silhouette of a solid chimney or rooftop a/c chiller unit. Birds don't tend to fly directly into solid looking objects. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGSlzj99pWc&feature=related

[Neon Knight]

04:22 AM on 10/17/2010

VAWTs are not more efficient than HAWTs. VAWTs can create more mechanical "shaft" force or torque than HAWTs, but they cannot match the RPMs of an HAWT. VAWTs are attractive alternative to HAWTs because they can be quieter, do not require any pointing apparatus, and do not require the ground clearance for blade swept area. This makes them a more viable option for urban or sub-urban dwellers especially when city codes are involved, but to actually be efficient a VAWT still should have a significant mast or mounting height and non-turbulent air. People frequently confuse turbulent air with air which is changing its vector, but these are not the same. VAWTs can easily handle air which is constantly changing its vector, but in turbulent air they fair no better than HAWTs.

There are a lot of myths and hype about VAWTs, but as a general rule, what I have spelled out here is the truth.

[mikefina]

05:30 PM on 10/16/2010

Everytime I see photovolatic cells, they appear "purpl-ish".

Is there any reason we can't make wind-turbine blades out of a photovoltaic material, and goose the engergy gain--in effect have them capture solar-energy whether the wind blows or not?

Anyone?

[Tommygun264]

08:13 PM on 10/16/2010

Many pvc cells are a concentration of blue or violet which only appears black due to their intensity. I have even seen DIY projects to create pvc cells using plant-based stains made from blueberries and blackberries to tint the metal. However, the recent breakthrough in creating thin, flexible pvc film is the most promising. Although the initial applications have been more novelty than practical - hats and backpacks outfitted with pvc film which can be used to charge cell phone and laptop batteries - it is being applied to interlocking roof shingles, turning roofs and structural siding into gigantic solar panels. Unlike old-style cells, which were basically thin, brittle glass or ceramic wafers, the durable flexible pvc material can go anywhere you could put a piece of regular plastic laminate. As it becomes more affordable, it can be used for more applications. Imagine if you coated the inner surface of the reflective bowls of floor lamps or shades of indirect lighting fixtures, or even your ceiling with inexpensive pvc to recapture & recycle energy from your interior lighting.

[mikefina]

08:20 PM on 10/16/2010

Appreciate the reply.

Any chance you could apply your knowledge to answering my question specifically.

>>"Is there any reason we can't make wind-turbine blades out of a photovoltaic material, and goose the engergy gain--in effect have them capture solar-energy whether the wind blows or not?"

I now understand that we could "coat" the blades with the thin/flexible pvc "laminate"--would the cost of doing so be recaptured by the energy collected--or would it just be a vanity-project?

[Neon Knight]

02:28 PM on 10/17/2010

I think you mean PV cells, not PVC cells.

[m1jones]

10:35 PM on 10/16/2010

There is no reason to coat rotating blades with photo sensitive material to goose them to collect more energy. Indeed it would be less efficient since at least half the time than old fashioned flat plate or curved mirror collectors. Rotating blades would be in the sun only a fraction of a second. Wind is an unreliable source for energy except for a few places on earth. Wind turbines typically produce the most energy when the demand for energy use is lowest. So it also has to include very complex grids and storage systems. One storage system is to use the electricity generated by wind turbines during the strongest periods of wind to pump water to a higher resevoir - say behind a dam with generators at the base. The water is released regenerating energy naturally at peak demand times. We have only begun to touch the surface for generating power from natural resources. Thus far, all of the ways of doing this are relatively expensive, unless you value our planet's land, sea, and biosphere for their real value - priceless. Right now, too many people place money and greed ahead of nature.

[fireofenergy]

12:46 PM on 10/16/2010

The energy payback for wind turbines, I think, is less than 6 months. With maintenance over a twenty year life, lets say a whole year. This means if humanity uses 1/10 of total oil supply building wind turbines, wind would supply the equivalent TWO times said oil supply!

I do believe that the media isn't doing a good enough job at stressing post oil (megadeath).

[m1jones]

10:38 PM on 10/16/2010

The payback of wind turbines is extremely sketchy. It is not less than 6 months, if ever. I wish I could remember where I read an article on this by a very reputable pro-environmentalism source. But you can probably find it if you google efficiency of wind turbines. It was shocking. Wind turbines only make economic sense in a few places in the world - usually where there are not too many people needing electricity, or very high up - where planes might run into them! They seem like such a good idea until you read about their actual performance.

[Neon Knight]

04:26 AM on 10/17/2010

"The energy payback for wind turbines, I think, is less than 6 months."

That is highly optimistic. The truth is going to vary based on where you live, what kind and what size of system you install, and what your current electricity usage and rate are.

[ibsteve2u]

11:13 AM on 10/16/2010

I briefly thought about purple blades with a nice, bright yellow cone in the middle...then realized that might result in every honeybee in America flying out to sea.

[julieintx]

10:36 AM on 10/16/2010

"that bats are most often killed by turbines at night and in summer"

Brilliant observation, since bats rarely fly during the day, and most of them migrate away or hibernate for the winter. Did they really have to do a study to learn this?

I'm glad they're doing some research on this problem, but this conclusion goes in the "duh!" file.

[m1jones]

10:39 PM on 10/16/2010

This article was so wrong on so many points that it makes you wonder what it is doing on this web site.

[hershobr]

08:50 AM on 10/16/2010

Nothing like the gorgeous view of purple wind turbines along the landscape.

[ReleaseDragula]

08:19 AM on 10/16/2010

Wait till they find out that some birds are color blind................oh no THEN WHAT?????????????????????????????

[Candide33]

05:42 AM on 10/16/2010

I just hope they don't go overboard with the colors or pictures. I am for green as much as anyone but they do tend to go overboard sometimes.

Like taking the propellant out of rescue inhalers, the whole point of a rescue inhaler is that you can't breath in in the first place! Killing asthmatics will make the world greener?

[peegan]

08:33 PM on 10/16/2010

Agreed. They do tend to go overboard and leave common sense at the door with some of these regulations. Your example is one I have a particular issue with as I find the new propellant does not deliver the dose as effectively for me as the old.

[Candide33]

09:27 PM on 10/16/2010

Same here and I panic when I can't get enough in my lungs and I re-dose so I end up using twice as much... it is really frightening not to be able to breath. How much damage could it possibly do to leave the propellant in 0.05 oz canisters of medicine?

[rougebaisers]

04:39 AM on 10/16/2010

colour them purple then.

[tangelan]

11:47 PM on 10/15/2010

Keep them white. I think they're pretty. Compare them to the oil "fields" outside of LAX. Which would you rather have?

[edva]

11:40 PM on 10/15/2010

On-site Solar is the only sane solution.

[Tommygun264]

07:47 PM on 10/16/2010

There is no one solution. The answer is a combination of wind and solar, with tidal and wave action to boot.