Workers at a state-of-the-art solar plant in the Mojave Desert have a name for birds that fly through the plant’s concentrated sun rays — “streamers,” for the smoke plume that comes from birds that ignite in midair
Federal wildlife investigators who visited the BrightSource Energy plant last year and watched as birds burned and fell, reporting an average of one “streamer” every two minutes, are urging California officials to halt the operator’s application to build a still-bigger version.
h/t AK
math is hard . so is this more than the 6 ducks killed in the tailing pond?
anyone want to do a kwh/bird calculation to compare
The only way solar power makes sense for baseload power is if the collector is in orbit. There, the collector can be made arbitrarily large, and a 3 Kelvin background makes the heat engine that converts light into electricity extremely efficient. For terrestrial applications, solar only makes sense in small scale applications that are off the grid.
Where are all the environmentalists, the econuts, the wild life preservers? Birds and all wild life are important to our eco systems. One would expect to hear from “experts” in their own minds like fat arse Gore or the aged, tired and tiresome Bug Doctor Suzuki on this destruction of birds.
Ontario is a disaster of major proportions with their bladed monsters, more efficient at killing bats and birds than producing power. We should become exhibit A in stupidity around the world, that would include the voters who vote for liars and corruption and scandals.
“Honey, I’m home. I brought dinner!”
“Better freeze it, we still have some roast condor from yesterday.”
Bu.. bu.. but it’s for Mother Gaia! We’re just trying to save her, so it’s ok, huh? Besides, it’s different when the EEEEvil oil and coal companies kill a couple of birds… I mean, they’re EEEEEvil, and whatever they do is just so wrong. And we’re the good guys, so you can’t hold us responsible for a little collateral damage.
/sarc
We got windmills to chop ’em up, solar farms to fry ’em, all we need now is a drive-thru window!
Solar makes sense for small scale deployments where grid power is expensive and electricity is not needed for central heating. Southern Baja comes to mind.
Oh my.
Can you imagine if this were the oil sands and animals were being roasted alive and live to die horribly burned for the crime of wander into an area…
I’m disgusted.
” lawyer Jack Marshall told the court that the company apologizes for the incident and recognizes it must do much better when it comes to protecting wildlife.”
Just kidding, that was Suncor’s lawyer while paying 3 million $ for some ducks.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/syncrude-to-pay-3m-penalty-for-duck-deaths-1.906420
“solar only makes sense in small scale applications that are off the grid.”
Exactly. In those applications it can save a lot of diesel fuel, especially in the summer. Solar PV is being added to remote communications facilities across Canada’s territories.
@Where are all the environmentalists, the econuts, the wild life preservers?
Probably too busy with whining and gnashing of teeth and advocating to halt GMO’s because they kill bees.
and cause cancer. And global warming. And athlete’s foot.
and Question:
Who cleans up the bird carcasses? Are they exempt from the extra large fine of $10K for possession of an eagle feather (that you find on the ground) ? Immune from SWAT team raids ?
Unless Quebec hydro gave water wings to all those caribou and bears when they flooded an area three times the size of PEI. That’s a lot of drowned songbirds too.
My point is that the impact on species like birds happens in all energy projects. And I support those Projects IF the power generated is significant enough to offset the loss.
James bay generates 16500 MW 24/7 for very little ongoing cost on land with virtually nil commercial value. And thus I support it
These solar installations are not something I can support
Democrats Gone Wild! Texas DA Rosemary Lehmberg furious during booking for DWI
http://commoncts.blogspot.com/2014/08/democrats-gone-wild-texas-da-rosemary.html
Whoa, Bechtel is a partner?
Must be George Bush’s fault.
“Where are all the environmentalists, the econuts, the wild life preservers?”
They are only interested in protesting stuff that their Russian, Saudi, and Qatari paymasters fund.
One “streamer” every 2 minutes works out to 262,800 fried birds per year. And this is supposed to be environmentally friendly. One can imagine the smell of adding 720 new half-scorched bird carcasses every day would attract lots of carrion-eating birds which would also become streamers during daylight approaches.
The environment is far too important to be in the hands of self-described environmentalists, their political pimps, and whoring rent-seekers. Governor (recycled) Jerry Brown-out personifies all that is wrong in California.
Which means that solar makes no sense at all for power generation. The cost to orbit the collector is and will be gigantic.
At least they’ll get some global warming in the immediate area and it will have nothing to do with CO2 output. All in the name of unaffordable and inefficient power generation. China must love the way we undermine our entire economy to fight a non existing problem.
Any endangered birds being cooked in flight? No eagles that I know of in the Mojave Desert…
Business as usual for the eco-whores.
Standards good; Double standard, double plus good.
Just imagine if they got the same treatment as the olipatch.
They would already be bankrupt and in jail.
Streamers eh.
Burnt bird on the wing, yum.
In my twisted world of retributive justice I foresee a novel use for this plant.
Catapult eco-nasties in at high noon.
Help save the endangered high desert cannibal.
Or fatten the coyotes.
There is a substantial bald eagle community in and around Lake Mead. The Yuma Clapper Rail, an endangered desert bird also makes it habitat in and around the Las Vegas wash. I have personally spotted hawks flying adjacent to this facility in the Ivanpah mountains, during my time working in the area. Here is another story with more details…
http://www.slate.com/blogs/wild_things/2014/07/08/solar_power_plants_burning_birds_usfws_report_on_california_facilities_and.html
I’ve never been near this area.. not even in these states. What happens when eagles are cooked in flight?
I’m guessing, not much, as opposed to what happens when individuals in the USA kill them.
Easy to get too Marc if you happen to go to Las Vegas – head for LA on Interstate 15 and in 30 minutes you are there. At Primm. You cannot miss the monstrosity. Had the occasion to fly over the site in February and then drove past it in April. Unfriclkenbelievable! I can certainly understand how pilots are troubled by the installation – the light even at 25 or 30 thousand feet is unbelievable. I don’t know how any group of supposedly intelligent people could not anticipate the ongoing bird carnage prior commencing construction.
enough heat to cook birds in flight. that is a heck of a lot of heat. I sincerely hope it does not add to the already overwhelming problem we now face with global warming. S/
“What happens when eagles are cooked in flight?”
“I’m guessing, not much, as opposed to what happens when individuals in the USA kill them.”
Or find a feather in the woods and pick it up.