Windmill farm gets permit to kill eagles with their turbines (5 golden eagles over 5 years)
A large wind farm in Solano County would be the first renewable energy project in the nation to be issued a permit to kill eagles under a plan released Thursday by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The proposal, outlined in a draft environmental report, is to issue a golden eagle take permit to the Shiloh IV Wind Project, on 3,500 acres in the Montezuma Hills between Rio Vista and Fairfield.
The unusual plan would allow the company's 50 wind turbines to kill up to five golden eagles over a five-year period in exchange for a series of measures to protect the big birds, including the retrofitting of 133 nearby power poles to prevent electrocutions.
"The bottom line is a permit will help preserve eagles," said Scott Flaherty, the deputy assistant regional director for the Fish and Wildlife Service. "I think it really does set a precedent. It shows the service can work with wind energy companies ... and ensure that we conserve eagles and other wildlife."
The report, which will now go through a 45-day public comment period, analyzed four alternatives, including the possibility of denying the permit application. In addition to retrofitting the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. power poles, Shiloh, which is an affiliate of EDF Renewable Development, has agreed to use audio or visual deterrence measures to scare away eagles, migratory birds and bats.
http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Windmill-farm-gets-permit-to-kill-eagles-4847110.php
= new reply since forum marked as read
should we just shut the windmills down or have somebody stationed under each one and yell "ka kaw ka kaw!" whenever a bird is spotted?
Maybe some 70 foot tall dick cheney scarecrows would work 
Stop it, snooper! 
and I can't find the hitting you in the head smiley!
Don't mess with turtles 
...Well wha.da.ya know. 
TYY
It's the LAW OF THE LAND.
Not just people in foreign lands...but Birds, Fish and the rest of civilization.
You were expecting Rainbows...and Ponies? What's wrong with you? A Few Eagles? Who Cares....
(sorry for the snark...it's horribly depressing}..but, it's what it is and we are supposed to be very accepting of this...just more collateral damage...and this time for "Sustainable Energy" while we impose Fracking TCP and invade Countries across the Globe for oil while polluting here at home ....we kill abroad.
Why SOLAR was not the Alternative Choice over Wind Farms..I don't know. I guess big Hedge Fund/Goldman Sachs or JP Morgan liked Wind Farms over Solar...and this is what we get after Citizens United decision by Supremes allowed the money to be donated by those who had the most and so they got the most influence.
What can one say these days to understand any of this.
But both are also intermittent.
Utilities have to provide exactly as much power as is needed moment by moment.
It's really a modern marvel how they do it, and more complex than people know.
http://www.caiso.com/Pages/TodaysOutlook.aspx#Renewables
started sooner. Jimmy Carter had Solar Panels placed on Roof of the White House! How long ago was that? Reagan took them off. Someone posted on DU a few weeks back that Obama is going to place them back on the WH...along with pushing the Trans Canada Pipeline for dirty shale to come through US to be EXPORTED! Then there's the Fracking.
We have the whole Southwest where Solar Panels could be placed and run the Grid from there and pick up in other areas on the East Coast with Solar Panels on Roofs in all Industrial/Corporate Buildings.
I've not been so much interested in Wind...because of the destruction of views in in Areas and the Humming Sound which makes some sensitive people sick...plus the possible damage to birds who use "wind currents" as part of their navigation skills.
USA has so much Desert...and in places where we store Nukes and other "things" out in our Southwest. Put Solar there and find a way to get it to CA and Nevada and NM, Texas, Utah...whever you can get it. Invest in ramping up the storage and network for distribution. That and Roof Solar in Cities could be better than Fracking and Tar Sands. We could still find places we could buy oil from FAIRLY...if we didn't invade their countries to supplement what the Solar didn't provide.
I'm proud of a 500kW two acre project I put together for a school district, it was done over existing parking lots, that's a must-do.
Many if not most rooftops aren't useful for solar, most often because of their limited load bearing capacity but other problems like shading or wrong orientation creep in.
When we try to put large solar in the deserts there are always environmental concerns (sigh) and large scale is almost necessarily utility run and more than a few progressives hate big utilities (sigh).
Then in terms of reducing demand, or reducing the need to burn fossil fuels, we have to use data, install smart meters but guess what? People are afraid of them!
Still, we are making great strides.
Jerry Brown just signed SB43 which allows an entity to use the grid to generate energy in one place and credit their meter in a different place.
About the solar on roofs. I'm thinking those ultra thin ones and more like NYC sky scrapers and other places which often have flat roofs with sun and no trees.
Also most surburban strip malls have flat roofs with few trees and the Big Box Stores which have large surface.
Maybe the office buildings in the big cities could turn off their inside lights at night leaving just outside security lights and employ extra security patrol guards for the perimeter?
I've never understood why all commercial office buildings have to be lit up all night in every office. That's a huge drain on power right there.
BTW: No way I'd install a "meter" for my electricity. It's just more Spyware and Control. 
Right under 2,000 of them, IIRC.
There are lightweight mods that can go on weaker roofs but they don't put out as much energy.
ETA: Meters are totally optional, you only need them if you get your electricity from a utility company, and that is not something required by law...
Unfortunately, self-generation is an option only for the wealthy or really really frugal folks!
Shaded car ports 12 feet off the ground!
At dentist now gotta go.
The system you need is simple.
First though, the answers. The big carport system was over two acres of parking, held up by steel structure, all of it at a cost of $2.5 million. Underground cables take the DC power from the modules to an inverter which puts out AC current, then on to a big building's distribution panels. This is a grid-tied system with a net meter. In times of overproduction, extra energy feeds back into the grid. The grid is the building's battery.
For you, we're going to need about a 500-1000 watt system using something like four modules sending 12 Volt DC power to four deep-cycle solar batteries. Add to that a charge controller to protect from overcharging and an inverter to match your biggest load, maybe 1,500 watts, and you're good to go.
Costco has systems: Grid tied 500 watt: http://www.costco.com/500-watt-Expandable-Solar-Kit.product.11755530.html
But you don't want grid-tied, you want stand-alone battery backed. Try this: http://www.costco.com/Grape-Solar-Custom-Order-Page.product.11755487.html
I did a system on my own in 2004 with four-115 watt panels and four batteries. I think that system would cost $2,500 today for all the parts.
It's not hard to do it yourself. You might not even need that big a system, it depends on your fridge and it's power demand and draw, especially at the moment the compressor comes on.
had no idea Costco was into selling solar. Will check out. Will also check if any of the roofing contractors might offer that as part of a package in our re-roof. Having it done at the same time might be a less expensive way to go and easier to position the cells.
The Blade span is huge, so enclosing it would look pretty terrible and maybe disrupt wind that keeps the blades turning. I don't know really...why ...just speculating.
