Are wind farms a threat to birds?

Many environmentalists believe that wind turbines drive birds away from surrounding areas but the latest study carried out by British researchers said the opposite giving the green light to build more wind farms. The concept of this theory was that large birds could get caught in the turbines which would kill them, and also that the structures could disturb other species in nearby area.

However scientists found that only one of the 23 species studied, namely the pheasant, was affected during their survey of two wind farms in eastern England, and this discovery was published in the Journal of Applied Ecology. This study should be enough to silence the voice of many environmentalists and act as a major boost to increase building of new wind farms, as one of the most important renewable energy sectors.

Wind farm.

"This is the first evidence suggesting that the present and future location of large numbers of wind turbines on European farmland is unlikely to have detrimental effects on farmland birds," Mark Whittingham, head of the team from Newcastle University that carried out the research, said how "this is the first evidence suggesting that the present and future location of large numbers of wind turbines on European farmland is unlikely to have detrimental effects on farmland birds and how this should be welcome news for nature conservationists, wind energy companies and policy makers."

This survey had the mission to study the impact of two wind farms on approximately 3,000 birds in the nearby area, including five threatened bird species - the yellowhammer, the Eurasian tree sparrow, the corn bunting, the Eurasian skylark and the common reed bunting. The researchers have discovered the density of birds at different distances from the turbines and found that aside from the before mentioned pheasant, there are no problems with other birds.

You may wonder how this discovery is important for European energy sector? It is important because the European Union plans to generate 20 percent of its energy from renewable resources by 2020, where wind energy plays important role in many countries like Denmark and Germany, and the last thing that EU needs are protest from environmentalists. However one issue was not resolved as the study did not look at the danger of the birds colliding with the turbines, which has also been a worry of conservationists. This would also make an interesting study.