New evidence indicates that millions of bats are being slaughtered every year by wind turbines. This astonishing figure of wildlife massacre arises from a reasonable extrapolation of casualty numbers collected by a group of German zoologists. Their data cover a number of years, and more specifically a recent two-month detailed survey at a wind farm near Berlin. Germany has nearly 30,000 onshore wind turbines, and the researchers suggested their findings translated to 200,000 bat fatalities every year in that country alone. Land-based wind turbines are common across many parts of the world, and a total figure running into millions is possible.
The researchers note that the annual German losses of bats will “cause a decline of populations of high collision-risk species”. They warn that this population decline “could manifest rapidly”, since mostly females and juvenile bats get killed by turbines. Bats have low reproductive rates and may not be able to compensate quickly for the casualties, they note.
The paper is of considerable interest and the full methodology of the field work, along with considerations about turbine age and operational curtailments, are shown here. The researchers took data going back 20 years from the national carcass repository in Germany and from a detailed 2021 two-month search of the ground near three turbines west of Berlin. It was estimated that nearly 300 bats died during the 2021 field survey, and this equated to 55 casualties per megawatt generated.
These are shocking figures. Bat ‘migrations’ were occurring at the time of the field survey, but such movement is common in bat populations. The UK has 14 GW of installed onshore wind capacity, or 14,000 MW. A multiplication of 55 casualties per MW produces 770,000 bat deaths. Of course all this installed capacity is unlikely to be in continual use, and periods of low bat movement and hibernation will lower the death toll considerably. But promoters of green energy need to be specific about the annual bat carnage they are prepared to accept – 50,000 deaths, 100,000, 200,000? The U.K. Government’s own in-house green activist unit, the Committee for Climate Change, is recommending that Britain should more than double its onshore wind capacity to 29 GW by the end of the decade.
Bat conservation protections are common across the U.K. and building developments are sometimes halted to accommodate their habitats. But far less robust measures seem to be in place for any ‘green’ projects. The Bat Conservation Trust (BCT) notes there has been evidence of bat collisions with wind turbines for 20 years, but it supports the development of wind power. It supports “mitigation” measures that are known to be “successful in reducing the impacts of wind turbines on bats”. It would be useful if the BTC could put an actual figure on an acceptable death toll.
Bats species are thought to make up a third of U.K. mammal fauna and occur in most lowland habitats across the U.K. But wind turbines present a danger to many flying animals in various habitats. Earlier this year, a group of American ecologists discovered “distinct patterns of population – and subpopulation level – vulnerability for a wider variety of bird species found dead at renewable energy facilities”. Their paper examined numerous wind and solar facilities in California and found birds at greatest risk were raptors such as golden eagles, kites and owls. These birds are often all-year residents around wind farms, where they require open skies to catch wind currents. For their part, the wind turbines generate enormous air fluctuations, while massive blade tips travel at over 150 mph.
As is often the case, animal charities appear conflicted between the promotion of ‘green’ energy and protecting the lives of bats and birds. In the U.K., Andrew Dodd from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) said we clearly needed more offshore wind turbines, “and the RSPB supported that”. But favourable spots in the North Sea are starting to fill up and, said Dodd, “we have to avoid development in the most sensitive areas”.
Dodd made his comments in a BBC report surrounding the permission for the giant Hornsea Three development, an area frequently visited by kittiwakes. These birds are at particular risk, since they have been spotted trying to slalom their way through such fields springing up in the North Sea. The energy secretary at the time, Alok Sharma, is said to have acknowledged that wildlife would be harmed by Hornsea Three, but granted consent on the ‘balance of benefits’. The cynical might note that the same ‘balance of benefits’ argument was curiously absent from the recent onshore gas fracking ban – reliable and secure energy supplies, against the risk of earth tremors equivalent to someone falling off a chair.
Journalist James Delingpole has been a long-time environmental critic of wind farms: “If you really hate nature, you’ll love wind farms. Not only do they destroy the landscape, blight views, increase flooding but… they kill rare birds and bats on an industrial scale.”
Chris Morrison is the Daily Sceptic’s Environment Editor.
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By ‘climate events’ I assume she means weather. 100% certainty I’d have thought.
Well I’m on the side of the farmers, I don’t think Starmer has the constitution to reconsider, on the contrary I think he’s more likely to go all Trudeau on them…. This might get very interesting…
Surely the farmers will be allowed to continue protesting if they rebrand themselves “Farmers for Palestine”? The police wouldn’t dare interfere then.
Nice one. Or Stinking Rebellion?
There is a very real risk, he will…his controllers cannot allow the project to fail, which was why Turdeau was so very nasty.
The government doesn’t value independent farmers. To be honest, they probably need all that land for solar panels, wind farms and battery banks to achieve their silly zero carbon power supply network dream. Or to build on. They’ve got to find somewhere for their new prisons and illegal immigrant holiday camps…
Or for big Argi to buy up all the land and mass produce all the grasshoppers, mealworm and other forced food that we all will be required to eat in the near future! (Except the elites of course)
I buy mealworms but only for the Blackbirds & the Starlings.
This is not just about inheritance tax…..now there is talk of banning Muck Spreading, while jacking up the price of Fertiliser….this attack is as mad as the Dutch one was…which means it is coming from the WEF goons. The Farmers will likely get no help from Starmer , as he is under orders…they will have to wait till the next election and we the people better make sure we sling them out forever.
And we the people had better make sure to ABOLISH MANDATORY FIVE YEAR GOVERNMENTS, like the Soviet “Five Year Plans”.
Bring back the VOTES OF NO CONFIDENCE that allowed the people to turf out governments that violated the democratic will of the people.
Stopping muck spreading is something the farmers can do to cause the water companies a massive problem with their sewage sludge.
No coverage on the BBC News, as expected……..disgraceful. They have their heads in the sand [or up some other dark place…]
I sent a TXT to Five Live along the same lines this morning, I said they might start to notice when there’s food shortages.
It was reported on BBC Radio 4’s Six O’Clock News. I don’t know about BBC television news, I don’t watch it.
Once a group of people gets together and realises the unassailibility of their power then there is nothing the state can do to stop them, especially in a demoralised country that begs for anything other than the status quo. A mass movement behind farmers means a swift end to corrupt entrenched power. They are so high on their own supply that they can’t even see this as a threat and therein lies their downfall.
If only it were so simple… Dominic Frisby explains why there won’t be a Revolution..
https://youtu.be/HwT7RtN44Fc?si=ne-lWd7IEiTQbm8U
The right to bear arms in the UK would be my first UK ammendment
So here we have both sides of the coin being controlled by the same narrative.
1- “Farmers Threaten to Bring Britain to a Standstill” is the kind of headline that provokes a knee-jerk response from readers. I will leave you to decide but whichever side of the argument you stand on, you can see that very same narrative being seeded in a negative light over time at the following links
This is not unusual for Will Jones, the narrative is designed to portray ‘The Farmers’ as some sort of out of control nefarious mob. Similar headlines will run in the tabloids tomorrow, riling up the nation against those damn farmers
2 – What was actually said
You don’t have to look too far to see how recent events (somewhat manufactured in my humble opinion) are an attempt to engineer support for the State leading to those involved being labelled ‘extremists’ – https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/farmers-protest-organiser-made-racist-34159402
Feels like a setup to me and it’s a shame Mr Jones has stayed true to form on peddling a state narrative. Hegelian Dialectic in play
Nonsense! Will Jones is just reporting on an article in The Telegraph, which quite rightly shows that farmers are angry enough to take effective action, just like the French farmers so often do.
There is nothing wrong with that.
Nigel Farage gets the crucial point: that it will be much more effective for the farmers to launch coordinated tractor protests ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, instead of just focusing on London.
“Attending the protest, Nigel Farage, the Reform U.K. leader, encouraged farmers to keep campaigning across the country.
He told the Telegraph: “In the 100 rural constituencies Labour now holds, they have to keep up this pressure. IT HAS TO BE PERSISTENT IN EVERY MARKET TOWN.”
The farmers should stop the foreign food imports next.
Cause some serious damage, get some big hitters reigned against the lefties. The lefties are actually quite weak people if pressurised, just a bunch of over-promoted school teachers and librarians – like Cameron and May
I’m sure they could get one of those waste tanker slurry jets to pump excrement over the fence into N0 10. Then stop by the BBC Broadcasting House similar to what the Dutch farmers did with their captured media. Give them something to clean up.
Yes, that’s a good idea — the Leftists do love their foreign food imports.
Every region. Maybe you don’t like South Wales because it is full of smack heads. They got that way for a reason. They were seriouslly hard-working bastards before. You pick them all up even the lowest. As a country there would be a huge morale boost. And with good leadership we could move onto brighter things. Don’t let these sad tossers try to convince you that there is no way back. Many things become possible with the right application of mind.
I think SStarmer & Reeves needs a bit of this treatment from farmers!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBdvWsOdeGw
The big question being why the useless leader of the opposition went with immigration for which she has an appalling back story rather than farming
Do you mean the Nigerian Birth Tourist?
Just heard Farage discussing this on his show. The female guest called Labour liars to which Nigel replied with “strong words”…..She should’ve replied with something like….Just for fairness the Tories have been lying about immigration for years!
It’s just time everyone took to the streets and smashed this rotten WEF governance from LGBT ,BLM ,Climate change
Lets make them all net zero
I am with them, and happy to suffer a little if they start restricting supplies. Labour communists are just the most vile people. The blue socialists (toeies) weren’t much better.
How is it that all the parties have adopted socialists policy directions? I fecking despise them all. Communists of different colours.
The farmers need to keep the public onside. That means not disrupting Christmas and delaying their blockades until the New Year.
Then come down hard and not let up.
Yup….Play the long game.