by matt_wulfeck on 9/2/16, 5:47 PM
by keepper on 9/2/16, 6:28 PM
"In addition, coyotes eat dozens of road runners trapped along the outside of a perimeter fence that was designed to prevent federally threatened desert tortoises from wandering onto the property."
Well, nice to hear the ACME(tm) solar plant trap finally did the trick for Wile E. Coyote...
by thoughtsimple on 9/2/16, 6:06 PM
That's 16 birds a day. Unless the birds are endangered, that seems like a relatively small number for 390 MW of mostly green power.
by ch4s3 on 9/2/16, 6:19 PM
I wonder how many birds are killed by coal and natural gas to produce 390 MW
by davesque on 9/2/16, 6:49 PM
Call me a jerk, but what is the real problem here? Can someone bother to actually quantify the risk to the ecosystem? There are plenty of unfortunate ways that different critters die all the time whether natural or unnatural. However, the mere fact that it is sad to think about means nothing.
by gohwell on 9/2/16, 6:21 PM
"coyotes eat dozens of road runners trapped along the outside of a perimeter fence" i've heard that before...
by mabramo on 9/2/16, 5:38 PM
I wonder if they have tried or are considering spreading a scented substance (a powder?) in the immediate area. It wouldn't stop birds from flying into the solar plant, but it might condition the roadrunners such that they know not to run in that direction when fleeing a coyote.
It could be costly anywhere else, but in the mojave desert, scent probably lingers for a much longer period of time. That's my guess, anyway.
by strommen on 9/2/16, 8:41 PM
Ivanpah is a black mark on renewable energy.
Its price was ridiculously expensive, and it has failed to perform to expectations.
The good news is that the industry has learned from it.
Almost nobody is doing concentrated solar thermal anymore - photovoltaics are better in nearly every way.
by transfire on 9/2/16, 8:58 PM
In the U.S. we eat over 20 million birds every day. Not saying they shouldn't make some effort to reduce the number of unintended bird deaths. But give me a break!
by stuaxo on 9/2/16, 11:07 PM
Would be amazing if there was some futuristic tracking of the birds, then obscure the relevant part of the mirrors with lcds so they can fly without being cooked.
by finid on 9/2/16, 8:53 PM
6000 birds/years in one location is a very big deal.
> But company officials suggest that estimates of the number of birds killed annually at the site are exaggerated, and federal wildlife authorities believe they are too low.
In practically all cases like these, "company officials" always say things are exaggerated. Whether it's about the effects of smoking, pesticide residues in foods, etc.
by Eridrus on 9/2/16, 6:52 PM
I was sort of hoping they'd have a video...
by codecamper on 9/2/16, 6:58 PM
It would be interesting to compare how many birds are killed by flying into the windows of glass skyscrapers.
Anyhow, it's good that solar thermal will soon not be cost competitive vs solar PV + battery.
by tn13 on 9/3/16, 2:04 AM
What is the alternative ? Building a nuclear power plant ? the same newspaper will come up with a story of how nuclear waste is going to kill babies with cancer. We need to calm.
by cbhl on 9/2/16, 7:22 PM
What if they ran a ring of flood lights (to attract insects) to create a fence around the solar plant, so birds wouldn't enter the plant area itself?
by cp9 on 9/2/16, 7:23 PM
and fossil fuels are directly responsible for the largest ecological disasters the planet has ever seen, so...
by ajuc on 9/2/16, 7:13 PM
kfc kills more
by antisthenes on 9/2/16, 6:14 PM
Flagged because this is an attempt to turn non-news into something clickbaity.