Posted on 04/17/2018 8:58:29 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
With more than 50,000 wind turbines in place across the U.S., wind power now accounts for 8 percent of the nation's energy-generating capacity — and experts predict that figure could rise to 20 percent by 2030.
But all that clean, renewable energy comes with a high cost to the nation's wildlife. Researchers estimate that 140,000 to 328,000 birds are killed every year in collisions with the turbines' spinning rotor blades and support towers. The risk to birds is highest at night, when the blades and towers are cloaked in darkness.
Now researchers at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, have hit upon what could prove to be a simple way to protect birds from wind turbines. They've used the "signatures" of birds that are visible in raw weather radar data to generate bird maps and live migration forecasts designed to alert wind farm operators to the presence of birds at peak times.
he bird migration maps could also make it possible to switch off some of the lights on tall buildings and communication towers at peak times. The lights on such structures are known to confuse birds flying at night, and result in many fatal collisions, according to Horton.
Given the short period of time that the maps and forecasts have been online, it's too soon to tell whether they're having a beneficial impact. But the researchers are hoping for good results. Says Horton, "We really want to see some conservation come out of this, hopefully to reduce some of the mortality."
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
In this case they are talking about actual power produced not capacity. Their wording is a bit confusing. You can google the amount of electricity produced by wind and see the growth year by year which also shows the 8 percent to be production not capacity.
From wiki:
Wind power in the United States is a branch of the energy industry that has expanded quickly over the latest several years. For the twelve months through November 2017, wind power in the United States amounted to 254.2 terawatt-hours, or 6.33% of all generated electrical energy.
The lights are on buildings and towers as a visual reference for airplanes, among other things. Stupid idea to turn them off.
And wind will be hard pressed to reach 12% of power by 2030, IMO.
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