The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds announces wind turbine plan to reduce its carbon footprint
The RSPB is today unveiling plans to build a wind turbine at its UK headquarters in Sandy, Bedfordshire.
The RSPB believes that renewable energy is an essential tool in the fight against climate change, which poses the single biggest threat to the long term survival of birds and wildlife.
In addition to campaigning to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the RSPB is committed to reducing its own carbon footprint by generating its energy needs from renewable sources wherever possible.
The proposal will be a significant step for the wildlife charity, which is joining forces with green energy company, Ecotricity...
“We know that with the right design and location wind turbines have little or no impact on wildlife. The RSPB has commented on over 1,500 wind farm applications. In the small number of cases – around six per cent – where we feel there is likely to be a significant impact on wildlife we have lodged an objection. In many of these cases the developers have listened and redesigned their plans to make sure they do not threaten wildlife...
“Ecotricity is a British company which started 16 years ago as the world’s first green energy company and we don’t pay dividends to shareholders, instead we use our profits to build new sources of green energy.”...
Good Job!!
Only if your goal is to destroy birds......
Silly nonsense promoted by the fossil fuel industry as part of their campaign to dismiss renewable energy sources that are in competition with fossil fuels.
Actually wind power is a big success and getting bigger all the time. It is only in your crazy little cult of AGW denial, that stooges for the fossil fuel industry, that you can find anyone who considers wind power a "
failure". But of course, you always have been a massively ignorant and very crazy little liar, walleyedretard.
As far as the bird kills go, you and FauxNews are very good at spinning up a story and ignoring the context. And, of course, you both usually get your facts wrong.
A 2007 report by the National Research Council concluded that wind turbine losses account for “a minute fraction” of bird deaths caused by human activities:
Collisions with buildings kill 97 to 976 million birds annually; collisions with high-tension lines kill at least 130 million birds, perhaps more than one billion; collisions with communications towers kill between 4 and 5 million based on “conservative estimates,” but could be as high as 50 million; cars may kill 80 million birds per year; and collisions with wind turbines killed an estimated at 20,000 to 37,000 birds per year in 2003, with all but 9,200 of those deaths occurring in California. Toxic chemicals, including pesticides, kill more than 72 million birds each year, while domestic cats are estimated to kill hundreds of millions of songbirds and other species each year. Erickson et al. (2005) estimate that total cumulative bird mortality in the United States “may easily approach 1 billion birds per year.”
Clearly, bird deaths caused by wind turbines are a minute fraction of the total anthropogenic bird deaths–less than 0.003% in 2003 based on the estimates of Erickson et al. (2005). [National Research Council, May 2007
And then, of course, there is the fact that these man-made climate changes we're experiencing will wipe out whole species of birds and kill far, far more birds than wind turbines ever will.
A 2008 Department of Energy report noted that wind-related bird deaths cannot compare to the threat of climate change:
Publicity related to wind power developments often focuses on wind power’s impact on birds, especially their collisions with turbines. Although this is a valid environmental concern that needs to be addressed, the larger effects of global climate change also pose significant and growing threats to birds and other wildlife species.
The future for birds in a world of global climate change is particularly bleak. A recent article found that 950 to 1,800 terrestrial bird species are imperiled by climate changes and habitat loss. [Department of Energy, July 2008]
And then there is the fact that fossil fuel production kills far more birds than wind turbines. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:
Every year an estimated 500,000 to 1 million birds are killed in oilfield production skim pits, reserve pits, and in oilfield wastewater disposal facilities according to a study published by Pepper Trail, forensic ornithologist with the Service’s Forensics Laboratory in Ashland, Oregon. [
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 8/19/11]
Although some members of the American Bird Conservancy seem to have their feathers in a twist over this, here's the organizational position statement on wind energy.
American Bird Conservancy’s Policy Statement on Wind Energy and Bird-Smart Wind Guidelines
Wind power is the fastest developing source of energy in the United States and can be an important part of the solution to climate change. However, wind farms can kill birds through collisions with turbines and associated structures, and also harm them through the loss of habitat that birds need for survival. American Bird Conservancy supports wind power when it is bird-smart, and believes that birds and wind power can co-exist if the wind industry is held to mandatory standards that protect birds.
Other bird conservation groups, like the Audubon Society, don't entirely agree with the ABC on this problem.The Audubon Society just recently endorsed the Obama Administration's new guidelines on wind farms that are aimed at reducing bird fatalities from wind turbines.
New wind tower guidelines aim to lower bird deaths
By Associated Press business staff
March 23, 2012
(excerpts)
WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration offered new guidance Friday on where wind farms should be located to reduce the number of bird deaths while promoting increased use of wind power. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the guidelines, which take effect immediately, provide a scientific basis for developers and government regulators to identify sites with low risk to wildlife while allowing for more wind energy projects on private and public lands. Salazar called wind power a key part of the administration's "all-of-the-above" energy strategy and noted that the guidelines for onshore projects have been endorsed by the American Wind Energy Association and the National Audubon Society, a conservation group. The dual endorsements "speak volumes about our goals: to do everything we can to stand up renewable energy" such as wind power while protecting wildlife and habitat, Salazar said at a news conference Friday. The guidelines call on the wind industry to eliminate from consideration areas that would pose high risks to birds and other wildlife, and to take steps to alleviate problems by restoring nearby habitat and other actions.
John Anderson, director of siting policy for the wind energy group, said wind turbines cause a minute fraction of overall bird deaths -- less than 3 out of every 100,000 human-related deaths. Even so, he said the industry has taken significant steps to reduce the number of birds killed, mostly by restoring habitat and locating wind farms in low-risk areas. The new guidelines established by the Fish and Wildlife Service should improve siting practices while protecting wildlife, said Denise Bode, chief executive of the wind energy association. David Yarnold, president & CEO of Audubon, called the guidelines a good compromise that reflects years of consultation with interested groups, including environmental groups. "Conservationists can't have it both ways: We can't say we need renewable energy and then say there's nowhere safe to put the wind farms," Yarnold said. "By collaborating with conservationists instead of slugging it out, the wind power industry gains vital support to expand and create jobs, and wildlife gets the protection crucial for survival. These federal guidelines are a game-changer and big win for both wildlife and clean energy."