wind turbines

[TabulaRasa]

In my former life as a journalist, I covered the construction of the first windfarm in the state (the one between Compton and Paw Paw), and also the later one in the vicinity that was developed several years later (Mendota/Sublette/Amboy area). Colleagues covered the Crescent Ridge one (near Tiskilwa) that was built in between the time those other two were built.

I also have quite a bit of experience in living near turbines...the ones on my parents' property are virtually silent. No noise to speak of whatsoever. A lot of the NIMBY-ism comes from the school of thought that they mar the landscape, cosmetically. I don't agree, I think they look pretty cool. But, then, growing up, on a clear day, I could see the nuke plant cooling towers/steam at Byron from a distance, and I'd way rather look out my window and see wind turbines, by comparison.

There is some ecological concern among those who oppose them, due to birdkill - which was more of a concern in decades-older wind turbines, such as those at Altamont Pass in California, back in the days when the supports weren't designed of tubular metal. There used to be a popular wind turbine design that was more like high-tension power line supports...lots of metal struts that attracted birds for perching. Those designs are no longer used. I do know that in two of the developments I covered, environmental assessments had to be done on migratory bird routes and also wetlands status of the land being scoped out for development. The danger to migratory birds is more of a concern on wind farms on coastlines and mountaintops than it is in the midwest. The migratory paths are high enough that they're out of the reach of the blades as low as our turbines are.

A recent Chicago Trib article discussed a study being done lately that shows a serious adverse effect on bats, actually. There are apparently a large number of bats found dead at the bases of wind turbines, with no visible injuries. A Canadian university doing the study has found that bats will fly/feed in the areas around the wind turbine blades, and the blade motion creates a very sudden drop in pressure that ruptures the bats' lungs, and they die of internal hemhorrage. Birds' lungs are not as delicate, and they're not impacted in the same way when they're near these low-pressure zones created by the blades. My dad's been saying for the past few years (since the local turbines went up) that the bat population in his barn had pretty much disappeared, and suddenly. He always liked the bats, because they kept the yard pretty mosquito-free for sitting out on hot summer nights. We wondered if pesticides weren't responsible, but it's entirely possible it's the wind farm.