Paint Job On Wind Turbines Could Significantly Save Birds’ Lives, Study Uncovers

As wind energy becomes a more popular alternative to fossil fuels, many innovators have devised ways to make the process even greener, from developing the world’s first recyclable turbine blade to recycling the parts into gummy bears.

However, with all the positives of switching to wind energy, there’s just one problem: turbine blades kill thousands of birds and bats each year. 

According to Anthropocene, researchers have suggested several ways of solving the issue, such as turning off wind farms during migration periods or installing special whistles to warn off bats.

Now, a recent study has proposed a simple yet cost-effective measure that could help save these flying animals: just by painting one of the turbine blades black.

The findings, which were based on previous experiments detailing how kestrels could navigate around turbines when one blade was painted, were replicated on turbines on the Smøla archipelago in Norway. 

Four pairs of adjacent turbines were used, with one turbine in each pair painted black, while the other was left in its original white. 

Then, over the course of three-and-a-half years, scientists monitored the number of birds that were killed, comparing the count to data years prior to the experiment. 

“Overall, there was an average 71.9% reduction in the annual fatality rate,” concluded the researchers. 

In fact, the collisions with unpainted turbines increased over time, while birds tended to avoid the painted turbines even more as time went on. 

Going forward, scientists still have to work out if this solution would help bats, and also come up with a different idea to save the ground birds who run into the turbines’ base instead of its blades. 

The team hopes to replicate the study at new sites, to verify the results and determine if the same effect is generalizable across wind turbines all over the world. 

“It is of the utmost importance to gain more insights into the expected efficacy of promising mitigation measures through targeted experiments and learning by doing, to successfully mitigate impacts on birdlife and to support a sustainable development of wind energy worldwide,” the study concluded. 

[via Anthropocene and Ecology and Evolution, cover image via Ian Dyball | Dreamstime.com]