Balancing renewable energy and the need to preserve biologically significant

landscapes

Photo courtesy of www.michaelforsberg.com

Definitely, we need to figure out how to reduce atmospheric

CO2

Hydro example

But not all strategies to reduce carbon emissions are environmental benign

Even though Even though emission free, emission free, construction of construction of hydro dams hydro dams have been the have been the number one number one contributor of contributor of extirpations and extirpations and extinctions in extinctions in North America.North America.

Wind power is a technology that may help us reduce CO2 emissions

But unfettered wind development could result in significant fragmentation of native

landscapesWe must consider both

costs (impacts) & benefits

The beauty of wind power is that ecological impacts can be minimized through siting

Iowa corn fieldKansas wheat field

Summary of biodiversity impacts from wind power

Direct Effects Mortality or injury to birds and bats from collisions with

rotors, towers, other infrastructure Habitat fragmentation of intact native landscapes

(turbine pads, roads, powerlines)

Indirect Effects Avoidance of otherwise suitable habitat by grassland

birds, particularly prairie grouse Interference with metapopulation dynamics

Photo courtesy of www.michaelforsberg.com

500 KW TurbineCutting edge

technology in the mid-90s

350 to 400’Total height

Rotor diameter250’

1.5 to 1.8 MW TurbineBeaumont

Farm Windmill

300’Total height

Rotor diameter155”

660 KW TurbineMontezuma

Avian collisions are the most publicized wildlife-related concern regarding wind turbines

As a result, the vast majority of wildlife research concerning wind energy has focused on bird collision deaths

Seriousness of the collision threat…

While collision deaths are a real concern for bats and birds at ill-sited wind facilities, habitat

fragmentation is thought to be a greater threat to wildlife in the Great Plains region.

Fragmentation

Elk River I: 20¾ miles of new roads across the prairie

Of particular concern in the Great Plains are prairie grouse

The life cycles of prairie grouse require large expanses of unfragmented, ecologically healthy rangeland

By protecting/maintaining habitat necessary to sustain greater prairie-chickens, the habitat needs of most other prairie species in the area will also be protected.

Robel et al. -- Avoidance behavior of lesser prairie-chickens in SW Kansas

(mean avoidance buffers based on 90% avoidance by 187 nesting hens)

580 ft from pump jacks

95 ft from either side of 2-track ranch trails

2,500 ft from either side of improved roads

1.5 MW turbine

1 mile radius

= ~2000 ac.

In addition to habitat fragmentation & abandonment

Large arrays of wind turbines may inhibit dispersal, thus affecting metapopulation dynamics

The cumulative effect of creating multiple areas avoided by species that rely on unfragmented prairie habitat could have significant consequences

Economically viable wind resources and Nature

Conservancy portfolio sites -- areas ascertained as

ecologically significant on a globally scale -- reveal

remarkable congruence

Overlap of economically viable wind resources and Nature Conservancy portfolio

sites in the Great Plains

- 8,274,888 acres fall into wind class 5 (excellent)

- 2,499,035 acres fall in wind class 6 (outstanding)

- 1,061,289 acres fall in wind class 7 (superb).

Kansas has 8.3 million acres of already altered (tilled) land with excellent wind resources (wind class of 5 or

higher)!

Kansas has 8.3 million acres of already altered (tilled) land with excellent wind resources (wind class of 5 or

higher)!

Yes!

But to do so, we must: 1) understand what’s currently driving the siting of

wind power

2) develop effective strategies to appropriately site wind power development

Can we steer wind power to less sensitive/controversial areas?

Another approach is a certification process to

encourage developers to do the right thing

Green certification: a non-regulatory approach to steer wind power away from sensitive habitats

How it might work in Kansas… How it might work in Kansas… to to keep wind development off scarce, native keep wind development off scarce, native prairie habitatsprairie habitats

7 Certifying appropriately sited wind projects as ‘green’ may provide a basis for guiding wind power development away from ecologically significant habitats.

7 Such an approach could make wind projects located in less sensitive areas more competitive, give public utilities sound rationale for rejecting poorly sited projects, and enable wind developers to promote appropriately sited projects as being genuinely green.

7 Certifying appropriately sited wind projects as ‘green’ may provide a basis for guiding wind power development away from ecologically significant habitats.

Conservation Priority Ranking

Definition of Priority Ranking

Level 1

Habitats that are: 1) globally rare habitats or considered outstanding

for biological distinctiveness; 2) migration corridors or staging areas for imperiled

species;3) native grasslands with more than 20,000

contiguous acres.

Level 2 Intact native grasslands larger than 2,000 acres with a 90% or greater intactness score.

Level 3Native grassland fragments: 40-acre grid blocks of 50–100% native habitat, but with fewer than 2,000 contiguous acres of >90% intact.

Level 4 Not identified as having high biological significance.

Again, we support strategies that will effectively reduce greenhouse emissions

But proper siting is critical to reduce the risk of losing certain natural systems and natural areas

… to prevent trading one environmental problem for another