Post by curiousgeorge on Sept 16, 2009 16:18:25 GMT
And now a word from our sponsors:
online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203706604574376543308399048.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
And that's not all - wind turbines explode bat's lungs.
"Beware: exploding lungs" is not a sign one would expect to see at a wind farm. But a new study suggests this is the main reason bats die in large numbers around wind turbines."
www.newscientist.com/article/dn14593-wind-turbines-make-bat-lungs-explode.html
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRqu4WiLQfk
Its OK to kill protected species if its done by GREEN energy as the animals agony is in a good cause you see. (I wonder what Obama's new animal rights tsar thinks of this??)
But there is a solution!!!
"Now a solution is in sight. Researchers are testing a technique that they hope will prevent millions of bat deaths a year. They intend to start turning off the turbines when wind speeds are low and, coincidently, when bats are most likely to be nearby."
www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/23/wind-turbine-advocates-test-a-solution-to-explodin/
Of course this means STOPPING the blades turning which also means a larger span of time when these bird and bat killers are not providing power. So not only on those cold clear winters nights with a hard frost (which CO2 seems unable to prevent)..... do all the lights go out, but also on those evenings and nights when there is only a slight breeze - brownouts again.
Then there is the problem of icing...
"One possible problem with wind turbines is the remote possibility of the propeller icing up in winter. Of course if the propeller freezes in place, the turbine won't be of much use. However, if the wind generator is mounted in a clear location (without snow blowing off surrounding surfaces into the turbine) with fairly steady winter winds, the constant motion of the turbine should be sufficient to keep the propeller clear."
www.ecodepotcr.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=44&Itemid=34
The stopped windmills ice up and all the propellers 'freeze in place" someone has a bit of a job to do. While this may not be a problem in California - it may start becoming a problem in cooler climes when the propellers have to be stopped to avoid exploding nearby bats.
I'm not so sure that "constant motion of the props" will keep them ice free. Unless they have deicing boots I suspect they would be just as susceptible to icing as airplanes.