@nickrauchen @vlindervriendje I don't see the wind industry picking up on having one dark blade. Weight shouldn't be a problem, it's just a different colour. Probably logistical costs prevent this development, along with people also being more aware of each turbine then.
Furthermore, a recent study found that it does not affect bird fatalities significantly, at least not everywhere. So the jury's still out on this one.
https://windpowernl.com/2025/07/03/pilot-with-black-wind-turbine-blades-in-eemshaven-shows-no-impact-on-bird-collisions/

@vlindervriendje @nickrauchen Lots of people are not bothered by facts, you know? They believe all kinds of bullshit, are susceptible to fossil propaganda. So countering the 'wind mills kill birds' myth with bird detection on all of them will hush the argument. And actually save some bird lives at the same time. Which we should.

@vlindervriendje @nickrauchen We normally do what we reasonably can. Like seat belts and air bags in cars, helmets on bikes. Stopping a turbine when there are big birds or flocks of small ones around sounds reasonable, right?
And it's true that wind mills hardly affect bird populations compared to other human activities, like climate change. So in a sense, they save more birds than they cause harm.
Still does not mean to keep things as they are, just make them better.

@vlindervriendje @nickrauchen Whether to keep things as they are or not depends on the risk and cost of improvement. The investment is really not that high for the 25 year span of a turbine. Even less when it would become mandatory.
Top predators getting killed is more important to the eco-system than smaller birds, they can even damage the turbine. So sheer numbers are not telling everything. Also, migratory bird routes coincide with wind mill locations, it can also be helpful there.

@vlindervriendje @nickrauchen Smaller birds can also be detected, provided they travel in flocks. Even bats can be detected. And when there's an incentive, even smaller, single birds could be detected.
I would argue that any death that can be prevented should be prevented. The availability of energy hardly suffers from this, neither does the price of energy. It is currently mostly left out because it is not required. Making it mandatory would help in general acceptance of wind power.

@vlindervriendje @nickrauchen Relative to the costs of a whole turbine, it's peanuts.

@nickrauchen Wind turbines could even stop within 10 seconds when birds are around. Marginally bad for energy production, but goodwill is guaranteed. Wonder why that feature is not mandatory yet.

@scriptkiddie Such a bad joke, beyond being sorta okay. Sure, he was a religious dictator, with lots of blood on his hands. But it's not up to wannabe dictatorships, also with lots of blood on their hands, to even the score.