Tell me! I worked in the Texas oil field, I was there when we had to start “netting” open holding tanks to keep waterfowl from diving in. Really, I liked that rule. I remember one company in opposition put out a photo of a dead gull with talons caught in a net! Politics and the actuarial risk math do not mix well.
We have in Texas more windmills than anywhere. I can drive from here to Oklahoma and never be out of sight of one. As soon as the industry can live without the two cent/KWH subsidy, I’m all for it.
“bird-brained” is applicable. The modern three blade turbine fan (150’ radius) turns slowly, about 3 RPM, the blades “feather” to adjust to windspeed. Little birds, not so much. The dead birds we see are “gliders”; the larger species: Buzzards, hawks, gulls, and migratory birds.
I will say this: No one knows “exactly” how many birds turbins kill. California pays people nearly 50K a year to tour towers and count dead birds, and that gives them a good guess. For sure, the fans kill birds; more fans, more dead birds. Classic risk/return decision.
Based on my own observations living on acreage in the country it would be impossible to get an accurate count of the birds that are killed by turbines. It is probably that many animals who feast on carrion are probably learning that the turbines are a good source of food.
Interesting about the turbines and speed. The ones I see in the Columbia River basin here in Washington don’t appear to spin very fast but I am sure it’s fast enough.
Based on my own observations living on acreage in the country it would be impossible to get an accurate count of the birds that are killed by turbines. It is probably that many animals who feast on carrion are probably learning that the turbines are a good source of food.
Interesting about the turbines and speed. The ones I see in the Columbia River basin here in Washington don’t appear to spin very fast but I am sure it’s fast enough.
Sounds a bit slow. What is their max?
Tip speed ratios are supposed to be around 7, which means at 15 mi/h wind speed, the tips should be going over 100 mi/h (150 feet/s).
A 150' radius blade covers just under 500 feet per rev. This comes out to 500 feet/20s, which is only 25 ft/s.
Another way of looking at it would be that a tip speed of 25 ft/s would be caused by a 3.5 mi/h wind.
Am I missing something here?