Wind energy and environmental impact

Don't they kill lots of birds?

Monitoring of existing wind farms suggests that with sensitive siting there is no adverse effect on bird populations. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) supports the sustainable development of renewable energy such as wind power because it helps mitigate climate change, which they believe "poses the most significant long-term threat to the environment...The available evidence suggests that appropriately positioned wind farms do not pose a significant hazard for birds."

For example, the 9 harbour-wall turbines at Blyth are in a busy bird area. Of the bird flights through the wind farm, only 1 in 10,000 have resulted in a collision. This translates to 1-2 collisions per year per turbine. To put the issue into perspective, every year more than 10 million birds are killed by cars in the UK.

Developers should contact specialists such as the RSPB and conduct and thorough analysis of the risk to birdlife as part of the environmental impact assessment of the wind farm proposal. With rigorous EIAs and thorough monitoring wind power can be deployed without significant detriment to birds (and other wildlife).

For more information about wind power and nature conservation issues, including birds, see the report from RSPB, WWF, English Nature and BWEA: "Wind farm development and nature conservation", download:  www.bwea.com/pdf/wfd.pdf

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