The equipment which is used to generate electrical power from the kinetic energy of wind is known as wind turbines. Based on the axis, these are of two types in general: some come up with a horizontal axis and the others are there with a vertical axis. Both in off and offshore areas, these turbines are useful in creating huge amount of electrical power.
Bats and effects of wind turbines
Bats though can fly fall under animal class. If you are going to install a wind turbine in an area, then the first thing that you need to check is if there are bats in that place or not. Near the turbines, pretty often bats are found dead. So, it is better to form wind turbines where bats don’t live. Certain locations can act as a migratory route for bats, so it’s advised to avoid those places.
Bats and how they are exposed to danger due to wind turbines
If you set up a wind turbine in a place where bats migrate through, bats are most likely to collide with the blades which will strike them dead. Bats have a special ability with which they can detect echolocation and therefore detection of wind turbines is easier for them. Still the wind pressure in those turbines is not detected by the bats and therefore numerous deaths are caused. Bats experience internal hemorrhage and also the trauma as they find themselves in a region with dropped air pressure.
Why Bats are Susceptible?
Unlike the bird species, bats are susceptible to barotraumas. Bats have lungs which consist of thin sacks. These sacks are surrounded with capillaries. If there is a drop on the air pressure of outside, then the sacs get expanded ultimately causing burst of the capillaries. In case of birds, the scenario is different though as they have a tube like lung that is far more rigid and is capable of withstanding air pressure.
Preventive Measurements that can be taken
Certain actions should be taken and that too pretty fast, as otherwise the species of bats may become extinct. Bats also have a slow production rate making the matters even worse. They have a lifetime of 30 years and at certain stages of life, they cannot reproduce any further. As bats are nocturnal, deaths occur during night more. If bats die in a rapid manner, then it will have an adverse effect in our eco-system leading misbalance to the same. So, the turbine speed can be adjusted during the migration period and can be put back to the original at other time period.