Windmills and Birds

There's an article in nature today about the true cost of wind-turbines to the lives of birds. The conclusion - 3% of a bird per turbine per year, or one dead bird for every thirty or so turbines. They put the avian death toll from wind turbines at no more than 40,000 per year for the USA (the largest wind power producer in the world), compared to hundreds of millions of birds killed by cats. However, there are important limitations to this - mainly that the birds killed by turbines are often bigger, and bigger birds have smaller populations, so the death on an individual is more important.

The UN on biofuels

This week the UN has published a report on biofuels, warning that though biofuels have great potential in providing clean energy as well as employment and income to the poorer areas of the world, the impacts so far have been limited to increasing the rate of forest clearance in south east asia, and driving up the price of food around the world. This is a stark warning, and backs many of George Monbiot's outspoken views on biofuels, which i commented on last month.
The EU has recently mandated a 5.75% blend of bio-ethanol and bio-diesel into all pump fuels by 2012, but this come with no safeguard to ensure that it doesn't speed up deforestation, and escalate food prices. There is clearly an enormous and incredibly important debate to be had here, but it seems that if there are incentives offered to promote biofuels then they need to come with caveats to prevent the worst environmental and social problems that could follow. The government is currently proposing to make all fuel companies increase the amount of biofuel they supply as part of its Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation, and we are currently in the consultation period. Greenpeace have organised a petition to make sure that "biofuels really are green fuels". Click here to visit the Greenpeace petition or here for the consultation on the Department for Transport website.