Eco-friendly Power

[HoboFactory]

I thought this was a really interesting article, worth sharing maybe.

 

ALTAMONT, California (AP) -- When it comes to wind power, few places are more productive -- or more deadly to birds -- than this gusty stretch of rolling hills between the San Francisco Bay area and the San Joaquin Valley.

 

At a time when demand is rising for greener energy sources, the Altamont Pass has become one of the nation's leading producers of wind power, generating enough pollution-free electricity annually to power 120,000 homes for a year.

 

But the Altamont, where more than 5,000 windmills line the hilltops, has also become a death trap for thousands of migrating birds that get chopped up in fast-rotating turbine blades as they fly through or hunt for prey.

 

An estimated 1,700 to 4,700 birds are killed each year in the 50-square-mile Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area, and of those fatalities, between 880 and 1,300 are federally protected raptors such as burrowing owls, red-tailed hawks and golden eagles, according to a study released last year by the California Energy Commission.

 

Full Article

 

Come to think of it, I bet it'd be neat to see the birds fly into the blades.

[Moonlight_Graham]

birds carry disease. Its a double-wammy! Cleaner energy + less gross birds.

[no yu begin wher i end]

Come to think of it, I bet it'd be neat to see the birds fly into the blades.

That would be quite a spectacle.

[Bizud]

Everything carries disease. ;)

[Dan #2]

Well, on my fan, i have a screen-type contraption that keeps me from sticking my fingers in it.

[ecnarf]

I say we eat the birds.

[Moonlight_Graham]

Everything carries disease. ;)

what about clocks? Do clocks carry diseases? And what about Oh Henry bars?

[mikebutt]

Small price to pay if it keeps our planet from becoming uninhabitable.

[Dan #2]

Everything carries disease.  ;)

And what about Oh Henry bars?

There are 6-8 insect legs in every chocolate bar. Not to mention Lactase.

 

Small price to pay if it keeps our planet from becoming uninhabitable.

 

true dat homes. everything comes with a cost.

[HoboFactory]

Small price to pay if it keeps our planet from becoming uninhabitable.

True, unless you mean uninhabitable by birds. Teehee.