From Fox News: A stretch of the Mojave Desert has been transformed by hundreds of thousands of mirrors into the largest solar power plant of its type in the world, but the milestone is being met with criticism from environmental groups concerned about the effect of solar energy on desert wildlife.
The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, sprawling across roughly 5 square miles of federal land near the California-Nevada border, formally opened Thursday after years of regulatory and legal tangles ranging from relocating tortoises to assessing the impact on plants.
The $2.2 billion complex of three generating units, owned by NRG Energy Inc., Google Inc. and BrightSource Energy, can produce nearly 400 megawatts — enough power for 140,000 homes. It began making electricity last year....
The system, however, is coming under scrutiny from some environmentalists because of growing evidence the technology is scorching birds that fly through the intense heat surrounding the towers, which can reach 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, The Wall Street Journal reported.
BrightSource reported finding dozens of dead birds at the plant over the past several months, with some having singed or burned feathers, according to federal biologists and documents filed with the California Energy Commission, the Journal reported. State and federal regulators are currently conducting a two-year study of the Ivanpah plant's effects on birds.
Meanwhile, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists are voicing concerns about BrightSource's plan for a second large-scale solar farm in Riverside County, which also has the potential to produce intense heat that could kill golden eagles and other protected wildlife.
And so, this is what should happen to any of the birds that have been roasted by the supposedly clean energy:
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