My personal values include a high-level environmental awareness and a desire to safeguard the environment for future generations. This will guide my research concerning the underappreciated impact of wind farms on bats and birds. The increasing awareness of environmental issues, especially in the energy field has led to the emergence of wind turbines as an environment-friendly source of energy. However, the wind farms have been recorded having an adverse effect on birds and bats in their region. As such, this paper argues that with greater awareness being raised regarding this issue facing wind turbines, a scientists and turbine companies can collaborate to implement viable alterations to the turbines ensuring that the bats and birds coexist with the wind farms as an environmental solution.
It is apparent that wind farms are an efficient and environmentally friendly power source regarding the carbon impact and efficiency. Every time the wind blows, the turbines generate pollution-free electricity. As a result, wind farms are being built and expanded at record rates across America and Europe. However, research has shown that wind farms are killing significant numbers of birds and bats. A wind turbine has knife-edged blades that can attain speeds of opto 200 miles per hour; this means that an “interaction” between the turbines and birds or bats results in deaths for flying animals. Current estimates indicate that at least 380,000 birds are killed every year by the wind farms in the United States alone, the numbers could increase when accounting for the entire world. As such, the problem of efficient green energy has just been replaced with a bird killing problem. Nonetheless, it is apparent that this issue is not receiving enough attention.
Considering the potential impact on the ecosystem of the death of the bats, it is evident that solutions to this problem must be sought out. As such, it is this paper's recommendation that ideas be sought out from scientists and engineers in collaborations with the turbine companies to develop modifications to the turbines to allow a coexistence of the wind farms and the bats and birds.
Works Cited
Kunz, Thomas H, et al. "Ecological Impacts of Wind Energy Development on Bats: Questions, Research Needs, and Hypotheses." Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 5.6 (2007): 315-324. Print.
