by Elizabeth M Young

Created on: September 01, 2010

Harnessing the wind has been one of the smartest and effective uses of pure nature to power man's endeavors. Whether the wind is harnessed and attached to equipment that grinds grains for the masses or whether the wind is harnessed, compressed, heated, infused with volatile gases and ejected to power the largest aircraft in history, this energy source is one of the greatest hopes for reducing the carbon footprint that is left by over 6.7 billion human beings.

But when we consider a massive increase in the number of wind harnessing apparatuses, there are several problems that are being used by competitors and detractors to discourage too much generating of electricity by wind power.

First, the migrating bird and habitat issues is of great importance because of the enormous height, rotation speed, size and power of the blades that capture the wind and rotate in order to create electrical current. Even a small, single user wind turbine system has to stand at least 40 feet high as a code requirement. The great turbines at Altamont Pass in California created a lot of controversy as that pass is a major and uniquely rich habitat for raptors and their prey.

It is estimated that about a thousand birds annually were killed every year at the Altamont Pass alone, many of them raptors. At one point, the Altamont was believed to be the biggest bird killer of all the wind farms in the world. The killing of about 24 Golden Eagles fueled even more controversy. 

The issue involves bird deaths from collisions with either rotating blades or the related electrical wires. Raptors swoop and dip to the ground to snag their prey. Because the Altamont's blades reached lower to the ground, they killed raptors that swooped down and collided with them.

Also in the past years, improvements to wire insulation and developing other ways to reduce shock hazards to raptors were implemented. Finally, the turbines at the Altamont pass are shut down on a rotating schedule during the bird migration season.

Another bit of good news is that, while the Altamont Pass was groundbreaking, it is representative of the older turbines that caused more bird deaths. Newer models can produce more power with better designed and fewer turbines per wind farm, which is also greatly reducing actual bird deaths.

Other wildlife issues involve ground habitats that are disturbed by the massive construction process. This temporarily forces wildlife into other areas that are already populated. Once the

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