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Windmills not so green for wildlife
News:
- A recent research project found the impact of windmills over the wildlife in forests.
Important Facts:
- A two-year research project by the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON), commissioned by State government agencies, has studied about the danger posed by windmills over wildlife.
- Impacts of windmills:
- The construction and maintenance of wind-energy facilities also alter ecosystem structure through vegetation clearing, soil disruption and potential for erosion.
- Alteration of vegetation, including forest clearing, represents the change through fragmentation and loss of habitat for some species.
- Changes in forest structure and the creation of openings alter microclimate and increase the amount of forest edge.
- The blades of the turbines drive away animals to the fringes of forests and this may lead to increased man-animal conflict.
- The windmills also lead to bird and bat mortalities through collisions with wind blades.
- The noise produced by the rotor blades, also leads the birds to move away from the noisy patches.
- Way Forward: India needs a set of protocols and policy guidelines before diverting forest land for wind farms to promote renewable energy so that the fatalities are minimized and gains are optimally harnessed.
