Feds will try vertical-axis wind turbines to reduce danger to birds and bats in Alaska

One common argument against wind farms is the number of birds and bats killed by spinning turbines, but a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service project is hoping to alleviate some of that risk with some economic-stimulus money. "FWS, using a $3.1 million grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, plans to install 11 vertical-axis wind turbines, each no higher than about 65 feet, at the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge and the Alaska Peninsula and Becharof national wildlife refuges on the state's southwest side," Scott Streater of Environment & Energy Daily reports. "Instead of using horizontal blades that birds cannot detect and avoid, the vertical-axis turbines spin on top of the poles and can be seen easily by the birds." (Wikipedia photo)

"The vertical-axis turbines are not as efficient as horizontal turbines," Bill Schaff, manager of the Alaska Peninsula and Becharof national wildlife refuges near King Salmon, Alaska, told Streater. "But we're willing to give up a little bit of efficiency to have the problems with bird strikes virtually eliminated." The turbines will be used to help power boilers that heat administrative offices at the three refuges. "Though the wind turbines could dramatically cut energy costs, FWS has been hesitant to develop wind power at the three refuges out of concern that the spinning blades would endanger a wide array of birds, including Steller's eiders, bald eagles, raptors and sea gulls," Streater writes.

"As more and more wind turbines are built across the country, the issue of protecting birds from deadly collisions with the spinning turbine blades becomes more important," Streater writes. "The FWS testing coincides with calls by conservation groups to better protect birds and bats as more and more wind turbines are installed." The American Bird Conservancy reports tens of thousands of birds are killed each year in collisions with wind turbines, which could increase to as much as 1 million with as many as 300,000 commercial-scale wind turbines expected to be in operation by 2018. "I think that if it works out, [the technology] absolutely could be transported on a broader scale to other places," Nicole Whittington-Evans, Alaska regional director for the Wilderness Society in Anchorage, told Streater. "We wholeheartedly support the project." (Read more, subscription required)