A necessary evil! - Pedro Guizardi

As describe in the article “California’s Ivanpah solar power plant is incinerating birds by the thousands”, written by Andrew Fazekas, the solar power plant has been responsible for the death of different species of birds, mammals and insets. This kind of solar power plant uses a tall tower and many mirrors to reflect the solar ray to the tower. The Boiler sit at the top of the tower is heated to 800 degrees. Due to the high concentration of sunbeams close to the tower, birds have been burned during the flying when they pass through the sunbeams. The California’s Ivanpah solar power plant is able to power a small city for a year; however, its power has killed many species around the solar power plant. According to the article, more than 28,000 birds have been killed per year by the reflected sun rays. Most of the deaths are direct, after the birds are reached by the sunbeams they fall on the ground. Some of them survive, but not for long time.  After suffer high damage the birds are easily hunted by predators. The California’s Ivanpah solar power plant was nicknamed “mega-trap” as a result of the destructive effect on the wildlife. Another point highlighted by the author, as a cause of many deaths on the wildlife, is the skyscrapers in which birds collide. Moreover, electromagnetic noise has been confusing bird on the migratory period. To try to find a solution for this problem on the California’s Ivanpah solar power plant the company put more than $1.8 million to stimulate any project that bring some solution for the problem.

If the solar power plant were classified as an evil, it is the best evil that we have found for long time. Unfortunately, nothing is perfect; however this technology has been a beam of hope in the renewable energy issue. If we compare the impact of the solar power plant with most part of the present sources of energy that we have today, the good and positive aspects will be easily overshadow the few problems. Besides that, the technology has improved each day and become more efficient in all aspects.