The Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project in Nevada is set to come online in March. Once completed, it will use thousands of mirrors to focus sunlight on a tower, melting millions of pounds of salt contained inside. The molten salt will heat water into steam, which then turns turbines and generates electricity without any carbon byproducts. There’s just one little problem: During a test run on January 14, the intense heat from the mirrors reportedly incinerated and/or vaporized more than 100 birds.
Rewire reports that during the test, operators fired up a third of the 110-megawatt facility’s mirrors, concentrating sunlight on a spot 1,200 feet off the ground. Over a six-hour period, biologists counted 130 "streamers," or trails of smoke and water left behind as birds ignited and plummeted to their deaths. Rewire’s anonymous source said that at least one of the birds "turned white hot and vaporized completely."
Another solar power plant, Ivanpah, reportedly scorches one bird every two minutes. Both companies are trying to devise measures to keep birds out of the concentrated solar energy.
It’s certainly a gruesome way to die. But solar power plants may not be that much worse for birds than other sources of electricity. This graph from a U.S. News & World Report in 2014 shows that overall, fossil fuels cause a lot more feathered fatalities.
However, the chart is not a perfect data source. The estimates weren’t taken in any standardized way, and some of the studies were outdated. It’s also not an apples-to-apples comparison, since fossil fuels supply way more power to U.S. homes than renewable sources. So we combined the chart with data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration to calculate how many birds each type of power kills for every 1,000 megawatt-hours of power that’s generated. It's just a back-of-the-envelope calculation, but here’s what we found:
Coal still stands out as the big bad bird killer, but solar and wind power aren’t so angelic either. If you accept the higher estimate for solar power, the impact on our feathered friends is higher than for oil and natural gas. Does that mean we should stick to fossil fuels? Of course not. (A world scorched by climate change is good for nobody.) But it does underline the fact that clean energy needs to clean up its act.
This is crazy! They're eliminating something problematic to the environment, but creating another problem. This is supposed to be a possible energy source for the future. If it's going to become a normal energy source for all, how are you going to remove all of the birds out of the many areas the solar power towers will be in place?
ReplyDeleteThis is so cool. We have better ways to get electricity. The one thing I don't like is, killing the birds. But I think they can improve the Crescent Dunes solar panel and make it better for the other organisms. Especially with the technology we have now.
ReplyDeleteIt sucks that animals have to die like that, but at least we are killing them with science. We need to quit abusing coal too, but I don't think people we give up their dependence on it. For now we should see what else we can cook with these mirrors.
ReplyDeleteIt's great that we are finding a new source for electricity, but poor birds. How do they just "vaporize?" Like, I'm imagining a bird flying into a laser beam of some kind and just disappearing, leaving a stray feather or two. Coal is a limited resource that we get from the Earth, so why do we continue to use so much of it if we know that we will eventually run out? I hope they can find ways to not harm animals by this in the future, because it seems like it will work very well for us.
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely great that we've found a way to create electricity without also creating carbon byproducts. That means But it's unfortunate how endangering it is to birds. That being said, obviously this project should still continue, ways can be found to help the birds. And after a while they'll learn not to fly near these solar plants.
ReplyDeleteI think it is a great thing that we found a way to create electricity. I hate that it is "vaborizing" birds. We should continue, but we need to find a way to not kill the birds
ReplyDeleteSo what is supposed to come about the death of these birds that continue to die off especially if there is almost no other way to contribute this energy without causing such harm? And if fossil fuels obviously won't help, then what will?
ReplyDeleteI think its pretty cool that we have found a way to make electricity through these mirrors. but, it doesnt make sense to me how these birds are just "vaporizing." I think this will be better when they figure out a way to create the same energy with the solar panels without killing the birds.
ReplyDeleteI love birds and I don't believe anything that kills birds could be beneficial.. Solar power seemed to have the least amount of effect on the bird or wildlife population. Since it works, I think we should remain using that because power systems like this can create another problem like killing animals. #SaveTheBirds
ReplyDeleteI have to say, I wouldn't have expected this to happen. Solar power however, is one of our best solutions to our dependence on fossil fuels. While I hate the idea of animals dying for human causes, this is our opportunity to get out of this hole we dug ourselves into by relying on fossil fuel. The idea of vaporizing birds sounds horrible, some sacrifices need to be made under certain circumstances.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds really crazy. I feel so sorry for those vaporized birds. Very weird that that is happening though. They must live terrible short lives :(
ReplyDeletethis is not safe I don't feel. there has to be some side effects to this thing. but could be useful for over populated birds like snow geese.
ReplyDeleteI feel like this could be a danger if it malfunctions while someone is doing work on it. I feel like we should continue working with this but we should find a way to keep birds away from it.
ReplyDeleteEven though that a hundred birds might die during this process its still alot more friendly than coal. I believe that this is the best way to harness electricity to power homes that is the friendliest too. I believe that relying on this is better than relying on coal
ReplyDeleteI think that this really depends on how you look at things. Do you want to just focus on the positives or on the negatives. Yeah they kill a lot of birds in that area, but it also is a lot less harmful than the coal that we excessively use everyday of our lives. So to me its more of a good thing than a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteI see how they are trying to do good thing because now we'd have another way to get electricity. The negative thing is that all the poor little birds are being vaporized. Although they are looking for a way to protect the birds I still think theirs a better way to obtain energy without causing harm to those poor little birds.
ReplyDeleteOkay, that is the scariest thing. It could happen to us, or something. I'd love to see it happen to a little piece of bread but not the animal who eats it. Crazy.
ReplyDeleteThis is crazy. Why would someone create something and continue to use it with the knowledge that it is literally vaporizing birds. They need to find a way to keep this from happening. It is just wrong.
ReplyDeleteIt is crazy that people are doing this to birds. These birds are being vaporized yet we continue to do this. It's for a great cause and all but I'm sure we can find a different way to do this. I've eaten birds before but I've never vaporized them. Once I had a pet bird thay I ate but I never vaporized him.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great idea if they figure out how to stop it from vaporizing birds. I like how it's better than using coal, but until they find a way to minimize the killing of birds then I don't want them to use it. I also don't like who they didn't mention the idea of it malfunctioning because if it does what would happen. now that's a scary thought.
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