Dumpnuts Posted February 16, 2014 #1 Share Posted February 16, 2014 (edited) Horror at the world's largest solar farm days after it opens as it is revealed panels are SCORCHING birds that fly over themEnvironmentalists have hit out at a giant new solar farm in the Mojave Desert as mounting evidence reveals birds flying through the extremely hot 'thermal flux' surrounding the towers are being scorched. After years of regulatory tangles around the impact on desert wildlife, the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System opened on Thursday but environmental groups say the nearly 350,000 gigantic mirrors are generating 1000 degree Fahrenheit temperatures which are killing and singing birds. According to compliance documents released by developer BrightSource Energy last year, dozens of birds were found injured at the site during the building stage. State and federal regulators are currently conducting a two-year study of the Ivanpah plant's effects on birds, with environmental groups questioning the the value of cleaner power when native wildlife is being killed.... http://www.dailymail...RDS-fly-it.html Edited February 16, 2014 by DumpsterJesus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.United_Nations Posted February 16, 2014 #2 Share Posted February 16, 2014 Environmentalists? you mean the give us more money group? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Wearer of Hats Posted February 16, 2014 #3 Share Posted February 16, 2014 Death Ray. Awesome. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rashore Posted February 16, 2014 #4 Share Posted February 16, 2014 When I read this article earlier today I thought.. Yeah, no kidding Sherlock, if you put up a mirror array like that it will zap whatever flies into it's focus area. Same principal as solar ovens. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davros of Skaro Posted February 16, 2014 #5 Share Posted February 16, 2014 Many Animals become roadkill due to vehicles, and Animals adapt by either being more cautious, or reproducing more. There should be a deterrent sound pulse used to sway Birds from these solar arrays, or wind generators. We do not stop driving, nor should we stop getting clean energy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Id3al Experience Posted February 16, 2014 #6 Share Posted February 16, 2014 While it is vert sad these birds are dying, they will adapt. Better than not having a plant to live on if we keep using our dirty energy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sakari Posted February 16, 2014 #7 Share Posted February 16, 2014 Ban Solar Energy!!!! Re-Build Coal Burning Power Plants Now ! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davros of Skaro Posted February 17, 2014 #8 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Do not try this at home kids, especially the gas can part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecowboy342 Posted February 17, 2014 #9 Share Posted February 17, 2014 I don't know but after the Exxon Valdez, the BP spill, Chernobyl and Fukushima, a few burnt birds doesn't really register 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquatus1 Posted February 17, 2014 #10 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Ban Solar Energy!!!! Re-Build Coal Burning Power Plants Now ! That's not a bad idea, actually. Coal has consistently gotten cleaner and cleaner without sacrificing energy output. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.United_Nations Posted February 17, 2014 #11 Share Posted February 17, 2014 That's not a bad idea, actually. Coal has consistently gotten cleaner and cleaner without sacrificing energy output. no then you have people saying it damages the air and call fo nuclear power plants Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquatus1 Posted February 17, 2014 #12 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Nuclear's even better. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter B Posted February 17, 2014 #13 Share Posted February 17, 2014 I don't know but after the Exxon Valdez, the BP spill, Chernobyl and Fukushima, a few burnt birds doesn't really register According to this link, more than 900 million birds are killed in the USA alone just by flying into windows: http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/ockhamsrazor/the-death-toll-of-brds-due-to-wind-farms/5040794 I agee with spacecowboy342 - a few toasted birds by comparison isn't that significant. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecowboy342 Posted February 17, 2014 #14 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Nuclear's even better. Well there is the whole nuclear waste thing and with coal strip mining is pretty ugly. Solar is the closest thing to free energy we're ever going to see 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquatus1 Posted February 18, 2014 #15 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Nuclear waste isn't as big a problem as we (as in, the U.S.) have made it. Gen 4 nuclear reactors even have the potential to bypass it altogether. I agree about the strip mining, although the problem is temporary (temporary meaning the life of the mine). As for solar...it isn't as free as it seems. Those solar panels require a lot of resources to produce, resources which ultimately consume more energy than the panels ever return. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquatus1 Posted February 18, 2014 #16 Share Posted February 18, 2014 No, a different sort of "Tower of Power" that I saw plans for once was basically an inverted funnel of glass, like a trumpet on its stand. The heat made the air within it rise towards the top, sucking in fresh air from the bottom. At the top was a turbine turning from the hot air coming from below. Kind of like a solar powered heat pump, with air as the mobile medium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecowboy342 Posted February 18, 2014 #17 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Nuclear waste isn't as big a problem as we (as in, the U.S.) have made it. Gen 4 nuclear reactors even have the potential to bypass it altogether. I agree about the strip mining, although the problem is temporary (temporary meaning the life of the mine). As for solar...it isn't as free as it seems. Those solar panels require a lot of resources to produce, resources which ultimately consume more energy than the panels ever return. Just more reason to develop the tech for solar to make them cheaper and more efficient. Strip mining isn't that temporary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psyche101 Posted February 18, 2014 #18 Share Posted February 18, 2014 The Solar Panel claim is really a misrepresentation, initially the process cost more as the technology and manufacturing planet developed, but with a payback of 4 years and a life of 20, Solar panels have been paying back since 2010, and they get more efficient each month. By 2020, solar panels will have "paid back" all the emissions they have used including solar farms. LINK - Solar Panels Now Make More Electricity Than They Use LINK - Energy Balance of the Global Photovoltaic (PV) Industry - Is the PV Industry a Net Electricity Producer? With regards to Coal, the Australian Clean Energy Council says: But how does solar compare to traditional energy, such as coal and gas? If you count the cost of setting up a fossil-fuelled power source by including the return on investment, operation costs, fuel and maintenance over its entire life, solar is close to the cost of fossil fuel-based energy and will be the cheaper option within a few years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psyche101 Posted February 18, 2014 #19 Share Posted February 18, 2014 As for burning birds - has that been documented? Hard to believe really. Mythbusters tried to do the same thing when they built a model of Archimedes Death Ray, and it was pretty darn useless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sakari Posted February 21, 2014 #20 Share Posted February 21, 2014 (edited) As for burning birds - has that been documented? Hard to believe really. Mythbusters tried to do the same thing when they built a model of Archimedes Death Ray, and it was pretty darn useless. Seems to be true... For birds, the towers are more like the Eye of Sauron. During test runs at the plant over the past several months, workers discovered dozens of dead birds, the Wall Street Journal’s Cassandra Sweet reported. “The dead birds included a peregrine falcon, a grebe, two hawks, four nighthawks and a variety of warblers and sparrows.” They appeared to have been scorched. Hat tip Gizmodo (warning: dead bird photos). But....... Ivanpah’s solar concentration system must have seemed competitive before construction began in 2010. But the new plant is already being called irrelevant. Business Insider’s Rob Wile noted that the new Antelope Valley Solar Ranch photovoltaic array will generate 1.5-times as much power as Ivanpah. Without the steam. Edited February 21, 2014 by Sakari Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundew Posted February 21, 2014 #21 Share Posted February 21, 2014 On the plus side, all the cats living near the solar array are adjusting nicely to medium-rare bird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psyche101 Posted February 26, 2014 #22 Share Posted February 26, 2014 Seems to be true... For birds, the towers are more like the Eye of Sauron. During test runs at the plant over the past several months, workers discovered dozens of dead birds, the Wall Street Journal’s Cassandra Sweet reported. “The dead birds included a peregrine falcon, a grebe, two hawks, four nighthawks and a variety of warblers and sparrows.” They appeared to have been scorched. Hat tip Gizmodo (warning: dead bird photos). But....... Ivanpah’s solar concentration system must have seemed competitive before construction began in 2010. But the new plant is already being called irrelevant. Business Insider’s Rob Wile noted that the new Antelope Valley Solar Ranch photovoltaic array will generate 1.5-times as much power as Ivanpah. Without the steam. Cheer Sakari. That link clears up a heck of a lot. These are not Photovoltaic panels which one would normally associate with Solar Panels, these are mirrors that boil water, a totally different concept to the one I thought it was. From your first link: The $2.2 billion solar farm, which spans over five square miles of federal land southwest of Las Vegas, includes three towers as tall as 40-story buildings. Nearly 350,000 mirrors, each the size of a garage door, reflect sunlight onto boilers atop the towers, creating steam that drives power generators. Apparently they expected this result and knew it would happen in design stages. I wonder why there did not just run with photovoltaic panels? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sakari Posted February 26, 2014 #23 Share Posted February 26, 2014 Cheer Sakari. That link clears up a heck of a lot. These are not Photovoltaic panels which one would normally associate with Solar Panels, these are mirrors that boil water, a totally different concept to the one I thought it was. From your first link: The $2.2 billion solar farm, which spans over five square miles of federal land southwest of Las Vegas, includes three towers as tall as 40-story buildings. Nearly 350,000 mirrors, each the size of a garage door, reflect sunlight onto boilers atop the towers, creating steam that drives power generators. Apparently they expected this result and knew it would happen in design stages. I wonder why there did not just run with photovoltaic panels? Not sure why they designed it this way. I saw years ago one similar to this in the middle east. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquatus1 Posted February 26, 2014 #24 Share Posted February 26, 2014 Photovoltaic panels require rare earths for fabrication. They were looking for a system that could be done on the cheap, or at least, without relying on imports. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Codenwarra Posted February 26, 2014 #25 Share Posted February 26, 2014 No doubt it's true. Now did anyone ever think of entire flocks of birds vanishing into the air intakes of the furnaces of coal and oil fired power stations? When they pass through pulverised coal and oil flames at 1200 centigrade plus, there isn't a lot of evidence left. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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