Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Solar farm sets 130 birds on FIRE: ...power plant ignites creatures mid-air during tests
Daily Mail UK ^

Posted on 02/23/2015 2:51:27 PM PST by matt04

More than 100 birds have been injured during testing of a new solar power farm.

Biologists say 130 birds caught fire mid-air while entering an area of concentrated solar energy created by the 110-megawatt Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project near Tonopah, Nevada.

Experts believe the birds may have been attracted by the glow of the farm’s tower, but the project’s owners, SolarReserve, say they have found a way to reduce the fatalities.

The solar project is close to being completion and is set to go launch next month.

Thousands of mirrors focus sunlight onto one central tower to melt salt inside it, which will in turn heat water so that steam will turn turbines to generate electricity.

At its peak, the project will produce 110 megawatts of electricity, which will be sold to NV Energy – a firm that powers the majority of homes in Nevada, Rewire reported.

In a test, one third of the project’s 10,000 mirrors were moved to focus sunlight at a point 1,200 feet above ground level – at approximately twice the height of its tower.

It took biologists just an hour and a half to notice the first of the ‘streamers’ – birds that catch fire and leave a trail of smoke in the air -when entering the field of solar energy.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: birds; environmentalism; solar
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-75 next last
To: demshateGod

Adding to your post - every one of these turbines is connected by underground cabling and gravel roads. Quite a ‘footprint’ when viewed from above (Google Earth).

It absolutely blows my mind to think of all the copper cabling, carbon fiber blades, lighted towers, and quarried rock that goes into such a small energy source...and anyone would call it ‘green’.

And they won’t last 20 years. I’ve seen broken turbines left to rot already - early test cases put up in Kansas. Very few machines can be left out in the weather for too long, without something going wrong.


41 posted on 02/23/2015 3:44:59 PM PST by lacrew (5th)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: matt04

World’s largest bug zapper.


42 posted on 02/23/2015 3:49:38 PM PST by 109ACS (If this be Treason, then make the most of it. Patrick Henry, May 1765)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Veggie Todd
Any of them a pheasant or a duck?

Crispy duck is one of my favorites.

43 posted on 02/23/2015 3:49:47 PM PST by dearolddad (/i>)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: tophat9000

I think they should call the flaming birds... “Smokey”...like in the movie Smokey and the Bandit

The star of that movie was a “Black Firebird” after all and Smokey was hot on his ass


44 posted on 02/23/2015 3:50:02 PM PST by tophat9000 (An Eye for an Eye, a Word for a Word...nothing more)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: matt04

Between this and windmills it’s clear: enviros have a War on Birds.


45 posted on 02/23/2015 3:51:05 PM PST by Flag_This (You can't spell "treason" without the "O".)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: yoe

Those are panels, not mirrors.


46 posted on 02/23/2015 3:53:59 PM PST by Axenolith (Government blows, and that which governs least, blows least...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: matt04

47 posted on 02/23/2015 3:55:51 PM PST by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Argus

Always think that someone is making lots of money and some politicians are sharing in the proceeds.


48 posted on 02/23/2015 3:56:51 PM PST by 353FMG
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: matt04

Now THIS would be a funny SNL skit.


49 posted on 02/23/2015 3:57:26 PM PST by RinaseaofDs
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bkopto

Funny....that’s one of the first things the pro-wind Greenies say on the topic of bird kills.


50 posted on 02/23/2015 4:08:49 PM PST by digger48
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: eldoradude

Is there any legitimate reasoning for such a maneuver?
What scientific hypothesis is questioned?
How long does it take to relocate 10,00 mirrors?


I really do love your answer to death penalty!


51 posted on 02/23/2015 4:09:52 PM PST by GOYAKLA (Those who want CO2 eliminated are really trying to suffocate trees!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: matt04

52 posted on 02/23/2015 4:11:58 PM PST by mountn man (The Pleasure You Get From Life Is Equal To The Attitude You Put Into It)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: lacrew
They are building them on the Osage.....

Nobody can stop them..when the Fed's are funding them.

53 posted on 02/23/2015 4:15:52 PM PST by Osage Orange (I have strong feelings about gun control. If there's a gun around, I want to be controlling it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]

To: lacrew
This is what they look like in populated areas like Indiana. 500' tall spinning monuments to Gaia a mere 1200 feet from your doorstep

 photo Whitcamperswindturbine.png

54 posted on 02/23/2015 4:16:40 PM PST by digger48
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]

To: yoe
Panels.....

No birds getting streamered

55 posted on 02/23/2015 4:17:29 PM PST by Osage Orange (I have strong feelings about gun control. If there's a gun around, I want to be controlling it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: matt04

Lefties only care about the environment as an extortion tool.


56 posted on 02/23/2015 4:18:28 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum (If obama speaks and there is no one there to hear it, is it still a lie?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: matt04
Imagine the conundrum an animal rights wacko would have to deal with if a protected species of bird gets toasted...
57 posted on 02/23/2015 4:24:16 PM PST by Popman (Christ alone: My Cornerstone...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RandallFlagg
"birds that catch fire and leave a trail of smoke in the air -when entering the field of solar energy."

I know this will sound rather sick, but is there any video of this?

58 posted on 02/23/2015 4:37:14 PM PST by Dacus943
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: bkopto

DOH !!


59 posted on 02/23/2015 4:38:33 PM PST by snooter55 (People may doubt what you say, but they will always believe what you do)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: Dacus943
"birds that catch fire and leave a trail of smoke in the air -when entering the field of solar energy."
I know this will sound rather sick, but is there any video of this?

Great minds . . . but I don't call it sick. I could find no actual "streamers" on YouTube, just people talking about it. (Intentional omission?)

It's too bad some enterprising conservative couldn't get some video of these poor birds, circulate it among the Greenies, and watch their heads explode.

60 posted on 02/23/2015 4:51:16 PM PST by Oatka (This is America. Assimilate or evaporate.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-75 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson