Renewable energy vs. wildlife conservation - Solar, Wind and Land: Conflicts in Renewable Energy Development - page 80

One common example of this type of mitigation measure is known as a
habitat mitigation lease. Under this type of agreement, a renewable energy
developer leases a large, privately-owned area that provides a similar
habitat for the animal species threatened by the developer's project. Under
the terms of the lease, the landowner agrees to abstain from developing the
leased area for at least the life span of the renewable energy project. Such
leases help to offset the adverse habitat impacts of the renewable energy
projects by preserving comparable habitat elsewhere.
When properly implemented, these sorts of offsite mitigation measures
can be a valuable and efficient means of balancing the competing goals
of wildlife conservation and development of the world's most productive
renewable energy sites. As described in previous chapters, in some regions
the quality of wind energy resources can vary significantly by location.
When wildlife species are adaptable such that habitat preservation
activities are less location-sensitive than renewable energy resources,
offsite habitat mitigation strategies can allow for the use of precious
energy resources without compromising wildlife conservation goals in the
process.
Of course, the threats to wildlife and other potential social costs of
renewable energy development in some locations are so serious that
allowing the project to proceed cannot be justified, even if the developer
were to take all reasonable mitigation measures. In these situations, the best
course of action may be to not build any project on the site.
As wind energy development has spread across the globe in recent
decades, its wildlife conflicts that have drawn the most attention have
involved birds and bats. Because opposition relating to these creatures is
likely to continue to affect wind energy siting decisions well into the future,
each receives special attention in this chapter. The penultimate section of
the chapter then describes conflicts between solar energy development and
the desert tortoise.
Wind energy vs. birds
Arguably the most well-known type of conflict involving wildlife and
renewable energy is the tension between wind energy development and
birds. Wind farms are estimated to kill hundreds of thousands of birds
across the world each year. 38 At times, wildlife advocates have sharply
criticized these sorts of clashes, describing them as an “outrage” and an
“ecological disaster.” 39 The most graphic bird deaths result from direct
collisions with massive wind turbine blades. However, “collector” trans-
mission lines within wind energy projects can also electrocute some large
birds, whose long wingspans can allow them to simultaneously contact
multiple wires. 40 And turbine noise and other less direct habitat disrup-
tions are sometimes capable of reducing bird populations near wind energy
projects as much as or more than collision deaths. 41