Wind farms kill millions of birds each year. Scientists have a simple solution: paint turbines black

(Credit: Courtesy of RWE)

Birds—from eagles to wrens—share a deadly habit of blithely flying into wind turbine blades that, at their outer edges, can reach speeds of up to 170 miles per hour. The tools wind farm owners have been using to cut the casualty rate are often high-tech, complex, and expensive. Now, scientists believe they've hit on a surprisingly simple solution: painting one turbine blade black.

To save birds' lives, the Glenrock wind farm run by PacifiCorp on a former coal mine in Converse County, Wyo., today has two observation towers manned by biologists who turn off nearby turbines when they detect eagles. There are also automated options: the Spanish company DTBird and DTBat sells an on-tower video system that detects birds and either emits warnings sounds or pauses the turbines when they come close—a system that is in use at Windpark Krammer in Zeeland, Netherlands, among other places.