Wind turbines keep killing bats in Canada. Advocates say there needs to be a change
what on earth29:51Bats vs. wind power: A terrifying tale of two climate solutions
Bats don’t exactly have a glowing public image. After all, they are associated with blood-sucking vampires, gloomy caves and all things scary.
But researchers say migratory bats in Canada are in desperate need of protection because wind turbines have been decimating their populations for decades.
“We’re not talking about if these migratory bats will go extinct. We’re just talking about when,” said Corey Lauzen, director of bat conservation for the BC-based Wildlife Conservation Society.
Lauzen and other experts say there are solutions that could help prevent further destruction of bat populations, including reducing how often the deadly turbine blades operate. And she says bat lovers aren’t the only ones paying attention.
There are three migratory species of bats in Canada: the hoary bat, the eastern red bat, and the silver-haired bat. According to the Canadian Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife, all three are endangered. The federal government is reviewing whether to add them to the Endangered Species Act,
according to a paper Published in Biological Conservation in 2017 Hoary bat populations could decline between 50 and 90 percent over the next 50 years, and become extinct within the century.
realize the problem
Lauzen first saw how much of a threat wind turbines posed to bats in the early 2000s, when she was studying bats at the University of Calgary.
TransAlta, the company operating one of the first wind energy projects in Canada, asked its laboratory supervisor to do the same The investigation was conducted after dead bats were found around their turbines near Pincher Creek, 200 km south of Calgary.
“It’s really hard to see dead bats because these are long-lived mammals that can’t withstand such a high mortality rate. And you had a feeling this was going to be a problem,” Lauzen said.
Although at the time they did not count exactly how many bats died, most were killed by being hit by the blades, while others died due to pressure changes near the turbines.
But it was not clear why they were coming so close to the turbines.
Lauzen said they may have been checking out the turbines out of curiosity, or their echolocation may have hit the turbines strangely, blinding them.
Their six-week stay also coincided with their mating season, and the bats may have mistaken the tall turbines for trees where they could find a mate.
Whatever the cause, one thing was clear: bats were dying.
Why are bats important?
Bats are extremely important for farmers and cattle herders. They eat all types of insects, giving farmers the option of not using pesticides on their crops or grasslands.
“I can’t imagine what the insect population would be if there weren’t so many bat populations,” said Julia Palmer, a rancher in Pincher Creek, Alta.
According to a research paper Published in Science Journal in 2024 Due to the decline in bat numbers, farmers often have to use more pesticides. High rates of infant mortality were also observed.
Although paper Was investigating deaths caused by white-nose syndromeLauzen says the research offers a warning about what is at stake.
“This is the first piece of evidence where we’ve been able to point to and say, ‘Look, we told you, bats are important for your health,'” Lauzen said.
What is happening?
After several deaths of bats and an increase in wind farms, Lauzen and his team proposed a solution that would become known as curtailment, or the act of stopping wind turbines.
Bats often fly when there are not very strong winds, he said, so during those times, the turbines could be turned off with little impact on profits.
They also suggested turning off turbines when bats are on migration and passing near wind farms.
according to Research in Alberta to be published in 2022Seasonal overnight stays would reduce profits by less than two percent, but would prevent the deaths of many bats.
In 2013, Alberta published its first guidelines for wind energy projects and migratory bats, implementing the reduction suggestions made by Lauzen and his team. In 2017, another directive limited the number of bat deaths on wind turbines.
Some other provinces also have bat-kill thresholds, or minimum reduction level regulations, but these vary from site to site.
Lauzen says companies currently face no penalties if they reach those limits. Instead, they will need to step up their reduction efforts to prevent future deaths.
Lauzen says that’s not enough, because there are many more wind turbines now than there were a few decades ago. Since the limits are per-turbine, this could still equate to a lot of deaths.
according to A report from the federal governmentCanada’s wind energy capacity has skyrocketed since 2007.
“To be honest, even setting these limits is not working because the bigger picture is not being considered,” he said.
smart deduction
Kent Russell says turbines could be designed to turn off only when bats are expected to be around, rather than remaining off for long periods of time.
One way to do this is with a device that can hear bats when they are nearby, then turn off the turbines until they pass.
Russell is a senior wildlife biologist and project manager for Western Ecosystem Technology Inc., headquartered in Calgary and Wyoming.
His company works with wind energy companies to study bat activity throughout the year, then create models that predict the best time to shut down turbines.
“This will be a single set of rules that will be programmed into the turbines so that the turbines can turn on and off throughout the night on a schedule,” Russell said.
White-nose syndrome has already decimated bat populations in eastern Canada. Now, as the fungal disease threatens to spread to the West, a scientist is combating it with a probiotic ‘cocktail’. CBC’s Camille Vernet went to meet the scientist and the bats she wants to protect.
Sarah Palmer, former director of a wind project owned by Toronto-based renewable energy company Potentia, says smart reductions are key to getting the industry on board.
Sarah Palmer (no relation to Julia Palmer) said, “What the industry is looking for with new technologies is for the province to accept these new types of technologies as an option rather than blanket cuts.”
Smart curtailment technologies are regulated from province to province, and existing research comes from the US, so it may take time for regulators in each province to approve its use. And some turbines are too old to use the technology.
As more research is being done to learn about bat migration and populations, Lauzen says regulators should stop companies from building wind farms along migratory routes.
“The hope that we can save these bats from extinction is what keeps me going,” he said.
“Hopefully we can keep these bats alive long enough to advance the technologies for renewable energy to the point where perhaps we won’t be killing bats anymore.”
