A wiff of fowl play - alt.energy

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From Los Angeles Public Television station KCET:

Scores of Birds Killed During Test of Solar Project in Nevada
A test of a solar power tower project in Nevada resulted in injuries to over one hundred birds, the federal government is reporting, though the project's owners say they've fixed the problem.

On January 14, during tests of the 110-megawatt Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project near Tonopah, Nevada, biologists observed 130 birds entering an area of concentrated solar energy and catching fire. That's according to Rudy Evenson, Deputy Chief of Communications for Nevada Bureau of Land Management in Reno.

Evenson suggested that the birds may have been attracted by a glow the concentrated solar energy created above the project's sole tower.

Fixed the problem? Some more:

By the time the test ended for the day at 3:00 p.m., biologists had counted 130 such "streamers." A subsequent test on January 15 reduced the number of mirrors aimed at the focal point above the tower, said Evenson, and that apparently ended the injuries to birds.

SolarReserve has confirmed to Rewire that birds were injured at the plant in January, but says that the mitigation measures Evenson described have allowed subsequent testing of the plant with less risk to wildlife -- which the company is touting as good news for management of power tower wildlife issues.

"We had some avian incidents during the week of January 11, in which there were a number of incidents, estimated at under 150 avian safety issues," SolarReserve CEO Kevin Smith told Rewire. "As a result, we stopped testing until we successfully developed mitigation procedures to address the identified avian safety issues."

Those mitigation procedures, developed by SolarReserve's engineers, include repositioning the plant's mirrors to reduce the intensity of the solar flux field.

So they reduced the bird kill by defocusing the array - their vaunted 110 megawatt output is now much lower. And their cost per megawatt is? Not talked about. All the while, a LFTR could be providing energy 24/7 for much lower cost and be much safer for the environment.

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