DOING THE RIGHT THING THE RIGHT WAY

Reconciling Clean Energy and Conservation
John Lorinc, October 1, 2009 (NY Times)

"With renewable energy poised for explosive growth, some conservation groups are racing to advance policy proposals and guidelines meant to prevent wind and bio-energy producers from despoiling sensitive habitats, especially in the prairie grasslands of the Midwest.

"The Nature Conservancy…is working with state energy officials and wind firms to build a database of maps that indicate wetlands and habitats within gusty regions…[An Ill Wind?] in the conservancy’s magazine notes how conservation scientists have come to understand that turbines fragment the habitats of ground nesting birds like sage grouse and prairie chicken…because the towers are perceived as roosts for raptors."

click to enlarge

"Last fall, the wind industry and leading naturalist groups established the American Wind and Wildlife Institute, to do research, develop mitigation strategies and formulate incentives for companies that comply. Next month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is expected to release siting guidelines for wind farms on federally-owned lands…

…Nature Conservancy’s recommendations for wind developers [include]…Avoid locations that require new transmission corridors…Take landscape integrity into account in siting decisions…Require location scouts working for wind farm developers to consult with regional wildlife authorities before consummating lease arrangements…Direct wind farm development onto established agricultural lands…[T]he latest research suggests bats are drawn into the vortex created by turbine blades, which causes their lungs to explode…[P]ausing blade rotation in periods when the wind isn’t blowing at economically-viable speeds [could mitigate problems]."

click to enlarge

"On the biofuel front, a team of scientists representing various national conservation groups and the University of Minnesota released a study proposing a framework for assessing the environmental impacts of current and future bioenergy production, also on a steep growth curve…Approximately 780 147 liters of water are required to grow and refine enough corn to make a single liter of ethanol, according to the study, which highlighted concerns like nutrient depletion and continuous crop rotations on corn ethanol farms.

"The authors recommend that producers rely on native prairie grasses, increasingly recognized as a feedstock for biomass and cellulosic ethanol producers, and adopt harvest management techniques to minimize harm to wildlife and watercourses."