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posted by LaminatorX on Thursday August 21 2014, @10:40AM   Printer-friendly
from the Archemedes-Mirror dept.

AP reports that wildlife investigators who watched as birds burn and fell at the Ivanpah Dry Lake Solar Tower Plant are urging California officials to halt the operator's application to build a still-bigger version until the full extent of the deaths can be assessed. Estimates per year now range from a low of about a thousand "streamers" by the plant operator to 28,000 by an expert for the Center for Biological Diversity environmental group. Those statistics haven’t curbed the enthusiasm of the Obama administration for the solar-power plant, which granted Ivanpah a $1.6 billion federal loan guarantee. The deaths are "alarming. It's hard to say whether that's the location or the technology," says Garry George, renewable-energy director for the California chapter of the Audubon Society. "There needs to be some caution." Federal wildlife officials say the plant might act as a "mega-trap" for wildlife, with the bright light of the plant attracting insects, which in turn attract insect-eating birds that fly to their death in the intensely focused light rays.

The $2.2 billion plant at Ivanpah Dry Lake near the California-Nevada border is the world's biggest plant to employ so-called power towers. More than 300,000 mirrors, each the size of a garage door, reflect solar rays onto three boiler towers each looming up to 40 stories high. The water inside is heated to produce steam, which turns turbines that generate enough electricity for 140,000 homes. While biologists say there is no known feasible way to curb the number of birds killed, the companies behind the projects say they are hoping to find one — studying whether lights, sounds or some other technology would scare them away, says Joseph Desmond, senior vice president at BrightSource Energy. Power-tower proponents are fighting to keep the deaths from forcing a pause in the building of new plants when they see the technology on the verge of becoming more affordable and accessible (PDF). When it comes to powering the country's grids, "diversity of technology ... is critical," says Thomas Conroy, a renewable-energy expert. "Nobody should be arguing let's be all coal, all solar," all wind, or all nuclear. "And every one of those technologies has a long list of pros and cons."

 
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  • (Score: -1, Troll) by rfree on Thursday August 21 2014, @04:07PM

    by rfree (4618) on Thursday August 21 2014, @04:07PM (#83990)

    Something is not perfect in the world... I know... YOU GO FIX IT!

    Lol.

    Ok listen here young leftist(meaning the socialist who forces others to do the good deeds), if you want this done, go to school, become investor or director of a power plant (or advisor to one) and make it happen. Or *you* go build the plexiglas things... into which birds will crash.. uh. Well either way, you have some not realistic solution to problems, you go do them.

    Next, go teach foxes to stop hunting game in forests.

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  • (Score: 2) by acid andy on Thursday August 21 2014, @04:59PM

    by acid andy (1683) on Thursday August 21 2014, @04:59PM (#84006) Homepage Journal

    I don't think I'd ever refer to myself as left wing or socialist and as another soylentil mentioned the concepts of left and right wing are a simplification that can get distracting.

    On the whole I don't think other people should be forced to do good deeds. I don't think, in general people should be forced to do things. I do however think other people should avoid doing bad deeds if the end doesn't justify the means. Of course the judgement of whether something is morally justifiable is very subjective. The point is though that if someone does something (or reveals plans to do something) that they know is morally questionable, it's perfectly reasonable to expect other people to judge them and apply pressure.

    To get back on topic for a moment, it's hard for me to say whether these power plants are justifiable according to my own moral standards, but that's largely irrelevant. They will face intense protest from other people either way. I was just trying to illustrate that there may be ways around it and pointing out that these compromises will likely be left out due to the desire to maximize profit.

    --
    If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
  • (Score: 2) by acid andy on Thursday August 21 2014, @05:18PM

    by acid andy (1683) on Thursday August 21 2014, @05:18PM (#84012) Homepage Journal

    Ok listen here young fascist (meaning the extreme right winger who seeks to silence peaceful protest), if you want to stop the crazy greens, go to school, start your own private security firm and offer your services to the power plant, or start your own political party, run for office to try to ban environmentalism.

    What's that? You don't want to? You were just casually debating a topic for the sake of intellectual discussion? lol So was I. : )

    --
    If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 21 2014, @05:19PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 21 2014, @05:19PM (#84013)

    > Ok listen here young leftist

    Being concerned about externalities doesn't make one a leftist.

    • (Score: 2) by MrGuy on Thursday August 21 2014, @06:24PM

      by MrGuy (1007) on Thursday August 21 2014, @06:24PM (#84028)

      Actually, in the current environment, it kinda does, unfortunately.