Scientists at the University of Calgary have found a way to reduce bat deaths from wind turbines by up to 60 percent without significantly reducing the energy generated from the wind farm. Full Article at Science Blog
Wind power has come of age, so further minimizing the impact of wind farms on the surrounding ecology is always important to our industry ... Working with the university during the course of this four-year study has given TransAlta the opportunity to test real world strategies that benefit affected bat ...
The findings from the study area are promising and this new mode of operation is now in place and will be applied to new wind farms
Given that more bat fatalities occur in low wind speeds and the relative ease of manipulating operation of turbines, we examined whether reducing the amount that turbine rotors turn in low wind speeds would reduce bat fatalities
Biologically, this makes sense as bats are more likely to fly when wind speeds are relatively low. When it's really windy, which is when the turbines are reaping the most energy, bats don't like to fly. There is a potential for biology and economics to mesh nicely