FACTS ON BIRDS AND SOLAR POWER

Setting The Record Straight: Solar Flux And Impact To Avian Species

Joe Desmond, August 19, 2014 (BrightSource Limitless)

“…[The impact on birds from solar thermal power tower technology like that used at the BrightSource Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System] needs to be put in context…Let’s be clear: No one disputes that certain levels of concentrated solar flux present a risk to birds. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Law Enforcement (OLE)…found that ‘significant avian mortality is caused by the intense solar flux that produces feather singeing.’…Ivanpah reported 321 avian fatalities between January and June 2014, of which 133 were related to solar flux…An estimated 1.4-3.7 billion birds are killed each year by cats…[Up to] 980 million birds crash into buildings annually…174 million birds die from power lines every year…340 million birds perish from vehicles/roads…Approximately 6.8 million birds die flying into communications towers…[and] one million die annually in oil and gas fluid waste pits…Solar (light) flux is not the same as thermal (heat) flux…Birds are not vaporized or incinerated after traveling through solar flux…[S]ociety as a whole has tradeoffs to make in every interaction we make with the natural world…” click here for more

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