That's Just Batty

Source

Wind Turbines Blamed in Death of Estimated 600,000 Bats in 2012

Wind turbines killed at least 600,000 -- and possibly as many as 900,000 -- bats in the United States in 2012, researchers say.

Writing in the journal BioScience, the researchers said they used sophisticated statistical techniques to infer the probable number of bat deaths at wind energy facilities from the number of dead bats found at 21 locations.

Source

There's nothing sexier than a woman holding a dead bat, is there?

Bats, which play an important role in the ecosystem as insect-eaters, are killed at wind turbines not only by collisions with moving turbine blades but also by the trauma resulting from sudden changes in air pressure that occur near a fast-moving blade, the study said.

Study author Mark Hayes of the University of Colorado notes that 600,000 is a conservative estimate -- the true number could be 50 percent higher than that -- and some areas of the country might experience much higher bat fatality rates at wind energy facilities than others.

And currently wind power provides a small fraction of US power needs.  If it is to become a major supplier of power for the states, as the Obama Administration cuts back coal plants, the number of bats (and birds) killed by wind turbines will have to rise dramatically, or find a way to solve the problem.  I've seen no evidence that is likely to happen soon.  Wind power operators are all ready getting their "superspecial permits" to kill endangered species ready for the next few years.

Primary energy sources of the US,  Wind in included in "other Renewable"

With bats already under stress because of climate change and disease, in particular white-nose syndrome, the estimate of wind turbine deaths is worrisome, he said -- especially as bat populations grow only very slowly, with most species producing only one young per year.

600,000 probably really isn't a large number for bats, but as noted in the article, bat populations are already under heavy pressure from a disease, and also probably as a result of human induced habitat changes, and don't need the additional losses if wind power expands as posited by renewable advocates.