Nickname: smpcompdude

Review: We should look at impact but I think we need to get over the not in my backyard syndrome. There are two windmill farms here in SE New Mexico and a couple in Central Texas that I'm aware of. Might as well take advantage of that.

Date reviewed: Oct 25, 2006 3:37 PM

Nickname: Charlie

Review: Wind power may have some environmental threats associated with its use but I doubt they are anywhere near those posed by burning fossil fuels. I say go ahead with the program.

Date reviewed: Oct 25, 2006 3:22 PM

Nickname: fh

Review: Re: bird collisions Dear Heather, W Hodos (2001) found that painting one of the three rotors black improved the visibility of rotors to some birds. Seemslike a good idea. My suggestion would be to also test out placing whistles on the rotor blades to see if it deters birds.

Date reviewed: Oct 6, 2006 8:58 AM

Nickname: Brandon

Review: The blades on new windmills move more slowly due to different gearing. The slower moving blades make it easier for birds to dodge the blades.

Date reviewed: Aug 23, 2006 6:38 AM

Nickname: kamal

Review: On the issue of avian mortality, the California Energy Commission expects to reduce the probability of bird and rotor blade collisions by making rotor hub and tower height adjustments (CEC - 2004 IEPR). If that doesn't work, wind farms should consider strategically placing nylon mesh/nets on wind turbine paths, experimenting with intermittent fog horns (from the rotor hub) to alert approaching birds, and consider bird sensitivity to ultrasound (20-50 kHz frequency, which is inaudible to humans). Last but not least, recorded bird mating calls played away from wind farms could serve as a diversion measure.

Date reviewed: Aug 22, 2006 9:53 PM

Nickname: Heather Green

Review: Hello, it's Heather (the writer) again. Unfortunately, I don't know if Superior Renewable Energy is considering ultrasound.

Date reviewed: Aug 22, 2006 3:37 PM

Nickname: Astro

Review: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I find giant windmills to be some of the most beautiful human-made structures. Graceful and elegant while adding greatly to the national grid, windpower is the most promising and economical existing technology available to mitigate soaring oil/gas costs. We have to build windfarms now or suffer the severe consequences of energy shortfalls in the near future. Again - there are no existing technologies with the potential of wind power to reduce our oil need by millions of barrels/day.

Date reviewed: Aug 22, 2006 12:35 PM

Nickname: ricky

Review: Cooperatively owned, urban wind turbines seem to be an acceptable way forward for the wind sector of the renewables industry. However, the muti-nationals involved are only interested in maximizing profits by building vast wind farms in the few unspoied areas left to us on land and near our coasts. The irony is that by following this policy the vast majority will be poorer because our environment will be visually degraded--and all this for a negligible impact on global warming! The only winners in this scenario are "Big Wind," which will be laughing all the way to the bank !

Date reviewed: Aug 22, 2006 10:37 AM

Nickname: MM

Review: If bird migration is such an issue, could there be an alternative of more wind generators with smaller blades--albeit more expensive--yet there's some fault tolerance if one unit goes down, you have the others operating. I certainly hope such thinking is going into this. I want to have at least a few small and one large generator working for me in a future Oklahoma residence.

Date reviewed: Aug 22, 2006 9:00 AM

Nickname: Question_for_Heather_Green

Review: Re. the bird migration routes, etc., Ms. Green, do you know if anyone has tried using the (ultrasound?) technology that is normally used to scare birds away from airports, to keep migratory birds away from wind turbine blades? Two of my students are working on a proposal for a pilot wind energy project. The total potential of the corridor where they intend to locate their windmills is enormous (est. at approx. 7,500 MW!), but the corridor is also used by millions of migratory birds. Has anyone tried creating a no-fly envelope around such projects? And if so, how successful were they? I'd be grateful if you could let me know. Thanks.

Date reviewed: Aug 22, 2006 7:41 AM