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| UN Climate Talks in Bonn | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: 20 May 2017, 01:32 AM (93 Views) | |
| skibboy | 20 May 2017, 01:32 AM Post #1 |
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UN looks to protect birds from green energy threats By Matt McGrath Environment correspondent, Bonn 19 May 2017 ![]() Birds have long been a concern in relation to wind turbines but the expansion of green energy has increased the urgency The global boom in renewable energy is posing new threats to birds say experts. At the UN climate conference in Bonn, researchers said wind turbines and power lines were a particular problem for migratory soaring birds. Shutting down wind farms on demand is one of the methods being tested to protect these birds from collisions. Other ideas being tried include placing highly visible deflectors every 20m on power lines. The Rift Valley and Red Sea flyways in Egypt are among the world's busiest corridors with huge numbers of migrating birds travelling between Europe and Africa twice a year. Around 1.2 million birds of prey, 500,000 white storks and 66,000 white pelican migrate each year along this particular flyway. Some will cover 10,000km on their journey. ![]() Engineers in France attaching reflectors to high powered electricity lines to warn off birds of prey Unfortunately this area is also where Egypt is developing new, large scale wind farms. At one wind park, El Zayt, over 290,000 migratory birds flew through it in 2014. Concerned about the impact the twirling blades may have on the species flying over, the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency in collaboration with the wind farm developers and bird experts set out to test a new shut down on demand protection system. In Spring 2016 they set up two radar units, with field ornithologists on site located at vantage points 2.5-5km from the wind farm and less than 5km apart. When birds were detected the turbines could be shut down within four minutes. Details of the trial are still being assessed but according to those who presented details of it at this meeting, it was a success. "We are still awaiting the monitoring information," said Aida Kowalska from Birdlife International. "The project went really well, and it's a great success we've managed to pilot guidelines that actually work on a wind farm site." The researchers say that they are fine tuning the system, increasing the number of birds that trigger the shutdown from 10 to 50. It could be used with other wind farms they say, but it is not a one size fits all solution to the issues of birds and renewable energy. "It's a model that could be applied elsewhere but it is particularly useful in the context of migration," said Edward Perry, also from Birdlife International. "This is one of many measures you can take, but the first step should be identifying the best site to reduce the impact in the first place." The delegates also heard about efforts in Germany to reduce collisions between birds and electricity cables. The country's rapid uptake of renewables particularly wind have seen a speedy growth in the number of pylons and wires being used to carry power from the north where it is generated to the south and west where it is mainly consumed. According to Eric Neuling from conservation campaigners Nabu, more than 1.5 million birds smash into electric wires every year. Grid operators were very initially very sceptical about bird protection but since the 1990s there have been many mutually benefitting projects, according to Eric. "The protectors are put up on the ground wire which is the very thin wire on the top of the power lines themselves," he told BBC News. "The one that works best is a black and white contrasting moving deflector around 50cm high, that gets attached every 25 metres. Because it moves, in most cases the birds see it and fly over and don't collide." Similar systems are being tested in the Netherlands and in Hungary and other locations - but don't expect to see them soon on every power line. "There's a cost factor, they won't put them up everywhere, but it is not really necessary," said Eric Neuling. "It has to apply to the most effective and most important places." Source: .com
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| skibboy | 20 May 2017, 01:43 AM Post #2 |
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Don't tell the President: US team lauded at climate talks Matt McGrath Environment correspondent 6 hours ago Assailed by "enemies" on all sides, the most "unfairly" treated politician in the history of ever has at least had the consolation of knowing that his emissaries to the latest UN climate talks just finished in Bonn have followed his dictum to the letter. Or have they? The new White House, in case you missed it, takes a very different view on climate change to a majority of countries in the world. The Donald Trump-era perspective is that climate change is essentially an exaggerated threat, that coal, oil and gas are tremendous, and that the Paris agreement is a bad deal for America and should be "cancelled". Given that almost all the small US delegation to Bonn were people who have previously been involved in climate discussions under the Obama administration, it must have been quite the mental u-turn to suddenly have to keep repeating the mantra in discussions here: "Our position is under review." Driving seat However, President Trump may be a little distressed to hear that instead of a stony faced resistance to the warmist hordes in Bonn, the US team has actually been seen as playing quite a positive role. In fact, one of the areas of discussion that made the most progress in these talks was, shock horror, driven by the US. "What we have seen is a generally constructive team," said Yamide Dagnet from the World Resources Institute, an observer at these talks. "One of the US team was co-facilitator with China of the transparency discussion - this is one of the building blocks of the Paris agreement that made the most progress during this session. So we are quite pleased that there was still a constructive engagement." The skilled negotiators from 180-plus countries involved in these talks have been doing their best to send soothing signals to Washington that everyone would be better off if the US was to stay in the game. All aboard Fiji will become the first small island developing country to hold the presidency of the key annual meeting of negotiators, COP23, which will be held in November, again in Bonn. The woman who will lead the talks, Fijian climate ambassador Nazhat Shameem Khan, reached for an appropriate Pacific island metaphor when discussing continued US participation. "It's very important that all members of the family stay in the canoe and that we paddle in the same direction, and that nobody jumps out," she told BBC News, without specifying the creek up which the aforementioned canoe would be travelling. "But if they don't (stay) what are our options? The answer is we carry on with the work programme and we do it with or without members of the family who have decided to bail out." 'Diplomatic leadership' Another perhaps less subtle signal has been sent by the European Union. It is convening a ministerial meeting next week for the first time with representatives of China and Canada to discuss climate issues. The inference in this is that Asia, Europe and the Americas are prepared to move ahead on climate without the US. Some observers in Bonn welcomed the move. "This is our hour of need, when we need to see other countries stepping up to ensure that the world remains on course," said Mohammed Adow from Christian Aid. "What we've heard is a clear, strong message from Europe that it is going to help cultivate the diplomatic leadership that is required to keep the world on course. "Climate change won't wait until we have a better leader in the White House or until the White House gets serious about its commitments because we know the world is warming." Softly, softly However, others were somewhat worried that overtly trying to force the issue might be the wrong approach, given the temperamental nature of the current US president. "I think pressure may well be the wrong tactic right now," said Elliot Diringer, a Clinton-era White House press spokesman and a former member of US delegations to the UN climate talks. "Decision-making in this White House is highly unpredictable and the president can react defensively when pushed against the wall. "I think the better approach is to encourage the US to stay in and be as ambitious as it can be." A decision on future US participation is likely after next week's G7 summit in Taormina, Sicily. Source: .com
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8:08 PM Jul 11