Renewable energy, sounds great, right? And it can be, in some rare cases and often in theory, renewable energy is great for the environment. Sadly, more often than not, once the energy collectors are installed they cause more harm than good. To get my point across, let me tell you a story...
Imagine, you are driving along, on a winding backcountry, on a road trip with your family. The radio is playing and your two kids are asleep in the back seat. As you crest a hill, you see a massive wind farm spread over an entire valley. The turbines coat the hills and buttes for miles around. It seems almost peaceful, but that is quickly turning into a hostile battlefield. As you watch in horror, a flock of Canada Geese in the classic “V” formation coast toward a clumping of turbines. A stray goose, straggling behind the flock gets cut out of the air as a blade swipes past.
Later, you are driving through southern California, heading towards the coast. For the last hour, there have been several burning, bright lights on the horizon. As you get closer, you begin to realize what you’re seeing, the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility. A flock of small birds, possibly swallows, is hunting the insects nearby and they must have spotted an especially juicy cloud of grasshoppers and they fly straight into the beam of intense light. The flock never returns. The light set fire to the birds and incinerated them midflight, all because the light attracted insects.
Your family road trip has taken you all the way to the coast. Your family decides to camp in a sandy area near the beach. As you are hiking along a coastal trail, following a river as it winds down toward the ocean. As the ocean comes into view, you begin to see strange white bumps surface quickly before disappearing again. Is it a strange species of animal? No, it is the blades of a bottom-tethered tidal energy generator. You notice many types of birds swimming, flying, and eating fish around the generators. The generators attract fish because it serves as a source of protection and in turn, the birds follow the food. You watch the peaceful scene for almost an hour, marveling at the life in front of you.
Your road trip has now traveled overseas, as you are hiking through beautiful Poland, you begin to spot a light smoke signal in the distance. It is coming from a large wood-burning biomass power plant. All of the trees for miles around have been clear-cut and the mountains nearby have large machinery harvesting more wood every hour. As you watch in amazement at the destruction, a tree is felled sending a flock of birds high into the sky, never to return to this place.
You and your family are now back home, but your latest trip got you thinking. You've been doing research to see if the terrible events caused by alternative energy sources can be fixed. They can. Next time someone comes to you telling you about the horrors of coal-fired power plants, you can say "Well, coal-fired power plants are terrible for the environment, but at least they don't slice birds in half or set them on fire."
