Saturday
Mar292014
by 
Bishop Hill
Bishop Hill On proportion
Mar 29, 2014 Energy: wind Yesterday the BBC hit us with the shock news that raptor poisonings in the Scotland have doubled.
To six.
The wind industry in the USA is estimated to kill about 83,000 raptors a year. The number in the UK would be smaller, but assuming proportionality to the USA, the death count for Scotland must be at least in the high thousands.
Reader Comments (63)
The balance in prosecutions is as out of kilter as is in reporting.
"Oilsands giant Syncrude Canada will pay a $3-million penalty for the deaths of 1,600 ducks in one of its toxic tailings ponds in April 2008."
Due to a mechanical failure of an alarm system, 1,600 ducks landed in a Syncrude tailings pond and perished. They were fined $1,875 per duck.
No wind farms in Canada have been prosecuted.
In the US, Nov. 22nd, 2003:
"The government for the first time has enforced environmental laws protecting birds against wind energy facilities, winning a $1 million settlement Friday from a power company that pleaded guilty to killing 14 eagles and 149 other birds at two Wyoming wind farms."
But, Dec 6, 2013 the wind farm industry gets a 007 type license to kill from Obama:
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration said Friday it will allow some companies to kill or injure bald and golden eagles for up to 30 years without penalty, an effort to spur development and investment in green energy while balancing its environmental consequences.
Grant B - I am a Kiwi, and I am sure I have never heard one of my countrymen or women manage to make 'very' rhyme with 'weary'. Many of my former teaching colleagues in the UK used to make fun of my pronounciation and reckoned that I was saying 'tin' when I was attempting to say 'ten' and they thought they way I pronounced 'eggs' as 'iggs' was really hilarious, but no confusion ever arose on the very-weary axis. Although teaching in some London schools did make me very weary indeed!
Re increase in Carrion Feeding species, surely the simple explanation is lazy dirty Britons (and other nationalities) and the spread of KFC,McD, BurgerKing, Dominos, Pizza Hut, Subway, Kebabs and all the other prepared food outlets.
When I first moved to Derby 30 years ago the suburb where we lived had achip shop, a Chinese takeaway,two newsagents, a butcher, a greengrocer, a shoe shop, three banks and a building society, a coop, a Post Office, a Birds Bakery, an off licence and several other little businesses. When I left two years ago there were two chip shops, an Indian takeaway, two kebab shops, two Chinese Takeaways, a Subway, a Dominos,Several Charity shops, a newsagents, A Greggs, a Birds Bakery,two off-licences, a building society and a post office.
During the same period the Magpie population exploded from seeing one now and again to seeing groups of 3 or more everyday. Other Corvidae were starting to make an appearance too. Grey squirrels had invaded the area, destroying many song bird nests each spring. Urban foxes too had increased in number and often slept in our garden on sunny days. During the last couple of years we lived there a couple foxes died in our garden at different times.
Not everyone takes their leftover home and carrion eaters are well placed to take advantage, Occam's Razor?
Fear go but tame-eyed vice. Dung-heap ping on Grant, it's a bare debit.
Bird strike porn....take a peek here http://www.windbyte.co.uk/birds.html
AlexanderK one of my iin-laws is a Kiwi and he pronounces very as veary. Along with six as sux etc. But he's a navvy, a horny handed son of toil and probably didn't go to the right school. Or maybe he's got a speech impediment or I've got a hearing problem. But I'll ask him anyway.
If you are hoping to run a micro hydro system in any river in the country, then you have to do an expensive and convoluted bio-diversity plan. The EA will insist on eel passes, fish passes and small gauge screens on the entrance to protect any fish or eels who don't read the directions. This is getting so stringent that many schemes are not going ahead. So why is there no such discussion with windmills? Not forgetting the solar parks in USA which have fried birds in flight.
Came across this earlier after watching Davey on the Daily politics:
http://carboncounter.wordpress.com/2013/04/15/how-many-mothballed-power-plants-are-there-in-the-uk/
Slightly OT (but still BBC-related) there was another typically robust interview between Andrew Neil and Ed Davey on the Sunday Politics Show.
The show is still on now for those wishing to 're-start the current programme'. No doubt it'll be on iPlayer later. Is worth watching.
DOUBLE STANDARDS, It might appeal to many wimmin (ONE for you, ONE for me) but it was not how society was conceived.
In the end it tears up the fabric, and null justice system and policing alike.
It is too obvious now that RSPB and politicians only do but double standards.
There must exist a way to fix this problem or they have outlived their use, entirely.
@Jo Beaumont
Indeed ... as somebody involved in small hydro it's exasperating to witness the EA being simply irrational and arbitrary on these matters. The screening is essentially specified on a whim. Types of turbines vary dramatically in their configuration - the EA were promoting the Archimedes screw turbine as "fish friendly" - but *only* when it suits them - ditto for fish and eel passes.
I feel we are seeing something similar with windmills - dishonesty and and wholesale bias by omission on the part of the regulators. In terms of the environmentalist organisations - their RSPB in particular is so "owned" by "Natalie Bennett"s that hypocrisy is way too mild a term to apply - 97% of the rest are more about politics than the environment...
The pandering of the public servants, a lot of publicly paid for academics and most of the media to narrow threads in the despotic Watermelon agenda seems to acknowledge no limits in either flagrant dishonesty or bias by omission.
Indeed one has to, it seems - start from the premise that whatever they say ... they're being dishonest (Looping back to blow my own trumpet a bit - The EA having trouble with honesty and due diligence)
Verity Jones:"a very detailed Belgian study found ~20 [bird deaths] per turbine per year in a 'high fly area' beside a breeding colony of terns."
One is left to ponder whether only one turbine blade killed the birds, or whether all three took terns.
HaroldW goto your room!