Wind Farms/RSPB

[Ruth Daniel]

The RSPB has announced that it will no longer object to the building of wind farms because many species are being threatened by climate change.
Anyone any opinions on this statement?



The RSPB: UK can have wind power and wildlife

[Gill Catton]

sure, it feels like a positive statement to me recognising that the preservation of populations is more important than the protection of every single individual.

Yes birds are killed by wind turbines, birds are killed by all tall structures but it only tend to affect a very small number of individuals during periods of poor visibility and doesn't affect the overall population. There seem to be more and more studies coming to this sort of conclusion in relation to birds.

IN the same way that a farmer can shoot hundreds of wood pigeons in the winter but it doen't affect the population because that's how many birds would have died anyway from natural causes over the winter period.

[The Woodman]

That headline caught my attention this morning as well. I immediately though "How can this be?" but true to form, the PR gurus had that one covered.

To progress this particular green energy conundrum, it is hoped that much more research will enable areas of high risk to birds to be avoided.

I'm all for it.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Gill Catton

sure, it feels like a positive statement to me recognising that the preservation of populations is more important than the protection of every single individual.

Yes birds are killed by wind turbines, birds are killed by all tall structures but it only tend to affect a very small number of individuals during periods of poor visibility and doesn't affect the overall population. There seem to be more and more studies coming to this sort of conclusion in relation to birds.
.

I agree with gill - particularly as the rspb arent saying they will never object to a wind farm , just that they dont object per se - and that they want to see turbines put on the right sites.

I would guess they also probably feel that it is easier to influence planning processes and govt policy if you show a willingness to work with them.

[Endrick]

We have to be very careful in assessing the good or ill of land based wind farms. The energy required to build them can be huge and the impact can outweigh the benefits. These structures are truly immense and ripping out the peat in order to build foundations can release huge amounts of carbon. Then there is the impact of building them.

Just at the moment there is a planning application for an enormous quarry on the banks on the upper Clyde in southern Scotland near the little town of Biggar. No one can surely deny that this will have a great impact on one of the most lovely of all our rivers with it's diverse wildlife. Any one who believes there will not be a great deal of pollution associated with this will surely be related to the ostrich family. So why have a quarry there? Well a huge wind farm is planned for a few miles way....

[Gill Catton]

I have visited many quarries now as a part of my job, (both active ones, recently disused and long disused too) and they on the whole seem to be very good for wildlife. No fertilisers or pesticides used you see so the wildflowers flourish once the excavation moves on a bit and the rest of the wildlife follows - they can be particularly good for the blue butterflies such as small blue and even adonis if there are existing populations close enough, solitary bees and wasps can thrive with an abundance of bare ground and cliffs to nest in.

Even peregrines love quarries and these sites can provide them with suitable breeding sites that were previously absent in the area. If the quarry is allowed to flood on comletion (or even after partial completion), then they can be a haven for wildfowl and waders, kingfishers too. I hope this helps to provide some positive thoughts for you in relation to the pending quarry its not all bad news.

Sadly aggregrates have to be got from somewhere, if only to maintain the roads.

[excoriate]

Originally Posted by Endrick

We have to be very careful in assessing the good or ill of land based wind farms. The energy required to build them can be huge and the impact can outweigh the benefits. These structures are truly immense and ripping out the peat in order to build foundations can release huge amounts of carbon. Then there is the impact of building them.

Just at the moment there is a planning application for an enormous quarry on the banks on the upper Clyde in southern Scotland near the little town of Biggar. No one can surely deny that this will have a great impact on one of the most lovely of all our rivers with it's diverse wildlife. Any one who believes there will not be a great deal of pollution associated with this will surely be related to the ostrich family. So why have a quarry there? Well a huge wind farm is planned for a few miles way....

A study carried out for the Isle of Lewis wind farm, the massive one, calculated that the turbines would have paid back the methane lost to the atmosphere within 2 years as a worst case scenario, by displacing CO2 produced by fossil fuel generation.

As the Lewis site was completely within a blanket bog with metres and metres of peat, I am pretty confident that the windfarm in your back yard will pay back the damage caused by digging into the peat within 2 years also.

Also, thank yourself lucky you have suitable stone nearby, otherwise you'd have lorry loads of stone being trucked through your town. In fact, the quarry might even speed up the payback time of the development. Win win!