I posted the questionable article in the Nation (Big is Beautiful) on windpower a few days ago as a heads up. Bill Evans, a noted bird researcher on this topic, posted this reply to the TREEA listserv. And then Greg Pitts added some points on tip speed of blades. Bill said it was okay to share with this listserv. You may find the following of interest. --------------------------- Greetings renewophiles,
In response to Gay's question, I found that The Nation's "Big is Beautiful" article has alot of misinformation and a prowind spin that could chop up the critical thinking of those who can't see around it. For example: 1) The following statement is incorrect: "as the turbines get bigger and more efficient, they move more slowly and do less damage to migrating birds and bats" In fact: All the evidence points to the opposite. I'm happy to send anyone the recent Canadian study by Barclay et al. that found positive correlation between height of wind turbines and quantity of bat kills. The few wind turbine mortality studies we have in the eastern US support this finding for bats as well as birds. The widely held view that modern tubular wind turbines with their larger, "slower spinning" blades are safer for birds and bats is not supported by studies. For example, the Maple Ridge project, with 195+ modern wind turbines was found to have the highest bird mortality per turbine of any wind project yet studied in the US and the study only focused on three months during the fall migration period. I can provide several other references for anyone interested in studies comparing mortality at the older versus newer = towers. These data do not support the claim made in the The Nation article. 2) The following statement is misleading: "the environmental threat of windmills has always been exaggerated by wind's opponents, usually rich rural landlords who find wind technology unsightly." In fact: The environmental threat from wind turbines is largely unknown. Wind developers tend to downplay it; NIMBYs tend to overplay it. Until more is known, we should proceed cautiously and the initial buildout of wind projects should proceed in areas that are theoretically not an environmental problem. These initial projects should have careful and extensive preconstruction environmental impact assessments and careful and thorough flying animal mortality studies. These recommendations are echoed in the National Research Council report "Environmental Effects of Wind Projects", which was released yesterday and is available for download at: http://www.eswr.com/latest/307/nrcwind.htm. The report raises questions on the effectiveness of utility-scale wind energy production in the mid-Atlantic highlands with regard to reducing CO2, and this raises questions about it's benefit for that purpose in other regions of the Appalachians. In contrast, The Nation article totally downplays any environmental threat from utility-scale wind projects. Even from a wind developer's standpoint this should be of concern. A few poorly sited wind projects and subsequent major flying animal mortality could really put a damper on wind development in the east. The large bat kills at the Mountaineer wind project in West Virginia are not an exageration. But the fact that this wind project's owner, Florida Power & Light, has prevented bat experts from further research on the bat kill problem at that project should be a wake up call for folks regarding the nature of some sectors of the the commercial wind industry. In New York state there are at least 45 utility-scale wind projects in various stages of development. In no case that I am aware of could the opposition be characterized as "rich rural landlords". The opposition is from a broad spectrum of the populace with a unique character dependent on the specific site. The "rich rural landlord" stereotype comes from the Cape Wind offshore wind project, a single project, which happens to have a large number or rich people on Nantuckett who are stakeholders. 3) The dig on solar in the Nation article is misleading. The article states: "These 'rooftop' systems are highly efficient--no energy is lost in transmission--but such systems typically can't supply more than 15 percent of a client's energy needs." But a windpower system for a home or business also has limitations on what it can supply, for example when the wind isn't blowing. Obviously, the degree to which either could supply clients would depend on the size of the system implemented for each. Most wind and solar energy goes into the grid and, therefore, to speak of solar only in terms of supplying clients is misleading. Also, from my understanding, the silicon shortage is likely going to be short-lived. Some analysts have predicted that in 2008 we will see a flood of silicon on the market, which will bring solar prices down, and may actually put some solar firms out of business. It is hard to know the facts about everything and one is susceptible to "spin" when one doesn't known the facts. When I read an article like this one in The Nation, that has obvious misinformation about things that I am informed on, it makes me suspicious that the facts presented about things that I don't know about may also be inaccurate. Before you buy into the article's suggestion of "aggressive state action ... to sweep away NIMBYs who oppose wind farms on aesthetic grounds", keep in mind that you could be one of those NIMBYs sometime soon. Or should I assume that everyone on this list is so dedicated to reducing global warming that they are willing to live within a wind project? Or are we truely cognizant that other people would have to live in one (or relocate it they don't want to)? For me, having seen the Maple Ridge wind project, I know that if I was moving to that region, my only consideration in whether I would choose to live within the wind project would be cost. If the cost of the property and taxes, etc. was much cheaper, I might have to consider it. I would not choose to live within a wind project solely out of a commitment to supporting an alternative energy lifestyle. The hike up to Conn Hill is a great idea. As a compliment to this I suggest folks who haven't experience a wind project take a field trip up to the Maple Ridge. I'm not talking about just going up there to see the wind turbines for an hour, but an overnight visit to try to take in a better sense of what it would be like to live within such a project on a daily basis -- seeing the flashing lights at night, hearing the sound, seeing the flicker. There is a place called the Flat Rock Inn (flatrockinn.com) smack in the middle of the Maple Ridge wind project that has three double occupancy rooms and a campground. It largely serves the ATV & snowmobile crowd, who come from all around for recreation in the Tug Hill wilderness area. It is about a 2.5 hour drive north of Ithaca and you can see 170 turbines from the site, some of which are quite close. I stayed there last week and it gave me a better perspective of the impact to residents living within a wind project, on the challenges of building wind projects for wind developers, and how such projects can potentially divide communities (and even families -- the proprietor of the Flat Rock Inn is against the wind project, but his father who lives nearby is for it and has turbines on his property). Bill Evans Danby I would also add that while larger wind turbines 'appear' to move more slowly, the tip speeds are generally greater than smaller turbines. At the same rotational speed (e.g. 10 rpm), a blade that is twice as long has a tip speed greater than 6 times as fast. In other words, they may look slower, but the tips scribe a huge circle at pretty high speed. -Greg ---------------------------------------------------- Gay Nicholson, Ph.D. 607-533-7312 (home office) 607-279-6618 (cell) 1 Maple Avenue Lansing, NY 14882 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sustainable Tompkins Program Coordinator w_ww.sustainabletompkins.org_ (http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/) Southern Tier Energy$mart Communities Regional Coordinator Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County 615 Willow Ave., Ithaca, NY 14850 [EMAIL PROTECTED] ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. _______________________________________________ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
