By Julius Goldthorpe
Bat colonies may be at risk from wind turbines according to scientific research, which could spell trouble for bats in Islington.
Islington council is determined to reach its 2010 target to reduce carbon emissions by 15 per cent, and is likely to add to the four existing wind turbines in the area.
But reports from across North America and mainland Europe suggest that wind turbines are to blame for a number of bat fatalities. Erin Baerwald of the University of Calgary, Canada, reports that bats suffer “barotraumas”, when a change in atmospheric pressure around the turbine causes hemorrhaging in their lungs. Baerwald’s research, published in Current Biology, suggested this had occurred in 90 per cent of bat fatalities associated with wind turbines.
According to the London Bat Group, bats are found in all London boroughs. The construction of wind turbines could be a problem for migrating populations, especially the common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) which is prevalent in Islington.
Climate change has already caused bat populations to decline across Britain, primarily because of loss of habitat and feeding sites. The addition of further wind turbines may cause bat populations to decline further.
But Professor John Altringham, a bat expert at the University of Leeds, said: “I can’t see wind turbines having a significant effect on bats, assuming appropriate assessments are done at sites.”