Comments on: Galapagos bird brains survive wind turbines

By: paul

paul — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 01:53:59 +0000

Stop complaining,if you want something to moan about see what dogs are doing to the natural inhabitats.

By: Blog for the Birds » Wind Turbines and Birds Don’t Mix - or Can They?

Blog for the Birds » Wind Turbines and Birds Don’t Mix - or Can They? — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:32:20 +0000

[…] Galapagos bird brains survive wind turbines […]

By: Conscientious Observer

Conscientious Observer — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:34:52 +0000

At least some initiative is being taken cause the least amount of polluting affect on such an exotic enviornment. Ok they may be unsightly and more study needs to be done to ascertain the long term affect on the animal population. However it is probably ‘a bit’ less damaging in the long run then having long term environmental devastation occur because of one idiot making a carless mistake with an oil tanker. Now that’s a real ’skid mark’ gone through the underpants of nature! The thought of the government allowing such oil tankers navigating their way around such pristine environment and the potential for such devastation is so horrendous. But hey it’s only the environment. Making money is the priority here. The thought of the damages to the environment outside one’s own backyard is no concern because it ‘doesn’t affect us’. It appears this pathetically ignorant attitude of this part of the globe is changing with the alternative energy. Bring it on!

By: Ken Webster

Ken Webster — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 11:19:04 +0000

Someone’s missing the big picture here. With climate change on the go and much more of a threat than spinning turbines or ‘unsightly’ locations a shift to renewables is to be welcomed, and is inevitable actually. We just have to get the right balance of technologies and efficiency,a challenge but nothing compared to allowing runaway climate change.

By: alister doyle

alister doyle — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 08:42:26 +0000

Agreed with Ivan that more time is needed and that some birds may be limping after glancing blows but there aren’t swarms of predators around — hawks and introduced rats i guess but even the fearsome-looking marine iguanas are vegetarians.
And Jonny’s right that turbines are unsightly — solar panels could be far less visible. But turbines are surely better than the previous noisy diesel generator spewing out noxious fumes needing supplies by tanker from the mainland…Denmark’s Vestas, which calls itself the world’s leading supplier of wind turbines, says turbines produce more energy in less than a year than is used in production — and are expected to keep generating for 20 years.
http://www.vestas.com/en/about-vestas/su stainability/wind-turbines-and-the-envir onment/life-cycle-assessment-(lca).aspx
(see the longer reports at the bottom of the link too)

By: Ivan Buxton

Ivan Buxton — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 13:57:09 +0000

How certain are they that no kills occured from injured birds limping off to die? Are there predators beneath the turbines feasting on carcases or carrying them off before the checks have been made? 6 months is not long either - perhaps seasonal fluctuations of movement might be different. If none of these apply, then it’s good news (apart from the eyesore aspect).

By: Jonny Goldberg

Jonny Goldberg — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:39:38 +0000

Who honestly thinks they are a good idea? They use more energy to build them than they ever produce in their lifetime. And they a skidmark on the underpants of nature. Unsightly.