Word of some recent advancements in protecting birds from wind turbines came down the newswire this week. The Peregrine Fund announced that Identiflight technology reduced eagle fatalities by 82%. It’s a significant step in making this alternative energy option a lot safer for raptors…and that’s a good thing.
Few would argue (although some people will argue about anything) that ultimately the world’s population will have to move away from fossil fuels and find more economical and eco-friendly ways to power our daily lives.
Problem is, no alternative is perfect. Wind may be cleaner than coal, but the fast rotating blades, normally positioned to catch optimum wind currents, are also places where many raptors live or migrate through. The effect on raptor populations by these turbines has been up for debate for years, but it would seem to me, the best alternative is to continue to develop newer blade-less designs that pose less of a threat, and less of an eye sore than the giant turbines.
Engineers of the future need to consider more than just the efficiency or function of a system and also include wider ecological impacts in their considerations as well. Then we will truly be talking about an eco-friendly technology.