Three giant wind turbines are helping the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean towards a goal of eliminating use of fossil fuels by 2015 — and no birds have been killed in a six-month pilot scheme despite worries in many nations that big blades and bird brains don’t mix.
The Galapagos are home to mocking birds, finches, petrels, blue-footed boobies, doves, albatrosses and other exotic species many of which only live on the islands. Studies of Galapagos birds helped British 19th century naturalist Charles Darwin work out his theory of evolution.
“In six months of pilot operations there have been no bird kills,” said Melinda Kimble of the U.N. Foundation, a sponsor of the $10.8 million project led by power producers including American Electric Power and also backed by Ecuador’s government.
Power producers studied birds’ flight paths and nesting habits to decide the siting of the turbines and reduce risks of collisions.
“There seems a very broad support for the project, right down to school kids,” said Kimble after attending an official dedication ceremony late last month on San Cristobal, the island with the biggest human population.
The turbines have a generating capacity of 800 Kwh and will provide up to about 80 percent of San Cristobal’s electricity needs in windy months, halving the need for diesel fuel to power the island. 
The shift to renewable energy for the islands was spurred after the oil tanker Jessica ran aground with 160,000 gallons of diesel fuel in 2001 — some oil leaked but a catastrophe was narrowly averted thanks to favourable winds and tides.
Bird lovers say that turbines from California to Denmark often kill birds.
But are the turbines a threat — or is it just a case of siting them with care?
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7 comments so far
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.
- Posted by Jonny GoldbergHow 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).
- Posted by Ivan BuxtonAgreed 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.
- Posted by alister doyleAnd 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)
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.
- Posted by Ken WebsterAt 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!
- Posted by Conscientious Observer[…] Galapagos bird brains survive wind turbines […]
- Posted by Blog for the Birds » Wind Turbines and Birds Don’t Mix - or Can They?Stop complaining,if you want something to moan about see what dogs are doing to the natural inhabitats.
- Posted by paul