A voluntary initiative launched last year by the American Wind Energy Association to reduce the number of bat deaths at wind farms is doing little to solve the problem, bat biologists recently told Scientific American.

Wind turbines currently are the leading cause of mass bat fatalities in the world, the publication reported. While many people may not like bats, they play a crucial role in ecosystems and save farmers billions of dollars in pest control every year by devouring insects that would otherwise eat crops.

Last year AWEA announced a set of voluntary guidelines for members that, if implemented, would reduce a wind farm's overall impact on bats by as much as 30 percent, according to the association. Among other things, participating member companies agreed to limit turbine operations in low-wind speed conditions during the fall bat migration season.

"The adoption of this protocol to reduce impacts to bats is a continuation of our legacy of care for wildlife and the environment," AWEA CEO Tom Kiernan said at the time. "American wind power is strongly committed to producing one of the safest and cleanest forms of energy, for people and wildlife."

But Scientific American spoke with scientists who believe the voluntary guidelines do not go far enough. One bat biologist, Paul Cryan, said the guidelines were a good first step, but noted that bats are long-lived and slow to reproduce.

"Their populations rely on very high adult survival rates," he told the publication. "That means their populations recover from big losses very slowly."

For its part, AWEA acknowledges the guidelines are not necessarily the last move the industry will make on the matter.

"The initial step was to find that sweet spot between reducing our impact while maintaining energy production levels that make a project economic," said John Anderson, AWEA's senior director of permitting policy and environmental affairs. http://bit.ly/1XZmmBM

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