Vulnerable Bird Species Harmed by Wind and Solar Energy

Anybody who believes that wind and solar power are environmentally friendly is a fool! We humans should not have any illusions about wind and solar power!

From the abstract:

"Renewable energy production can kill individual birds, but little is known about how it affects avian populations. We assessed the vulnerability of populations for 23 priority bird species killed at wind and solar facilities in California, USA. Bayesian hierarchical models suggested that 48% of these species were vulnerable to population-level effects from added fatalities caused by renewables and other sources. Effects of renewables extended far beyond the location of energy production to impact bird populations in distant regions across continental migration networks. Populations of species associated with grasslands where turbines were located were most vulnerable to wind. Populations of nocturnal migrant species were most vulnerable to solar, despite not typically being associated with deserts where the solar facilities we evaluated were located. ..."

"... Multiple studies published in 2013 and 2014 found that somewhere between 140,000 and 679,000 birds are killed by wind turbines annually [in the U.S. alone?]. However, the American Bird Conservatory estimates at a minimum 681,000 birds are killed annually by turbines, thanks to an 86 percent increase in wind energy capacity in the United States from 2012 to 2021. ...

The Ivanpah Solar Power Facility in the Mojave Desert, for example, is responsible for incinerating around 6,000 birds annually. ...

... powered by wind and solar would “necessitate an unprecedented worldwide expansion in mining,” ... “And those mining operations would rely primarily on fossil-fuel-powered heavy equipment, since battery-powered equipment for enormous industrial operations does not exist.”

These mining operations would also involve “removing and crushing hundreds of billions of tons of rock and ore, causing major habitat losses and widespread pollution,” ... “It would also create serious human health impacts, especially in countries that do not have modern equipment and health and safety protections.” ...
The cobalt needed for these batteries is mostly mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where more than 40,000 children currently labor in mining operations for pittance wages in unsafe and unhealthy conditions. Copper mining would also have to be dramatically expanded to meet the demand for 100 percent renewable generation, even though it takes roughly 125,000 pounds of mined, crushed, and refined ore to produce 1,000 pounds of finished copper. ..."

Vulnerable Bird Species Harmed by Wind and Solar Energy

Vulnerability of avian populations to renewable energy production (open access)