Wind turbines kill vultures!

18 April 2012

It is of no doubt that the renewable energy sources produce great benefits to the environment, replacing the harmful methods of generating energy from hydrocarbons. In fact, Crete is an ideal area for producing green energy, because of the huge solar and wind power, which has already attracted many investors.

One of the major investments made in Crete for the production of green energy, other than the solar panels, is the construction of large wind farms on the mountain ridges. Indeed, today almost anywhere on the island, the visitor can see the white mills of a wind farm.

However, how secure can be the wind turbines for the environment? There are many who keep a cautious attitude towards them, as they cause noise driving away the animals in the area and visual pollution. However, the balance of the benefits of using wind parks seems to bend in favor of their use.

This idea may be completely reviewed, if someone watches the following video. Until recently, some strange phenomena around the world were observed, with raptors found dead in the bases of the turbines, but could not be explained. This shocking video, which was drawn randomly from a group of athletes parachuting in Lendas mountains last summer, is a confirmation of how critically endangered birds can be brutally killed by the wind turbines. Indeed, this is the unique video in the world that shows how dangerous wind turbines are for birds of prey.

The video shows a vulture that making circles around a turbine and it is suddenly hit by a propeller. The animal was hit very badly, it was but lucky as there were the athletes who took care of the bird and handed it over to the Greek Ornithological Society, where it recovered. However, the fate of bird would certainly be different, like that of all dead birds found in wind farms, if there was no one there to see it.

Unfortunately, it seems that even the wind turbines are not the best practices for producing green energy, as dozens of birds are slaughtered by their blades every year. Think of the huge ecological significance for the possible death of the few remaining bearded vultures (Gypaetus barbatus) of Crete from wind turbines (only 4-6 reproductive pairs of them have remained in Crete, being the only ones in the Balkans). Indeed the Asterousia Mountains, where several wind farms (just like this in video). Cretan birds of prey form the largest number of raptors in Europe. We must quickly review our methods for producing real green energy, in all levels, before we make our vultures and eagles a beautiful memory...