The Altamont Pass Wind Farm began operations in the 1980s. Thousands of wind turbines have been setup, abandoned, dismantled, replaced, and upgraded over the decades. To the best of my knowledge, it is the single largest collection of Wind Farms in the world. As a whole, I assert the Wind Farm has done more good than harm, although wildlife suffered tremendously in the early days.
It appears that many scientists do not spend much time in nature. First-Generation Wind Turbines were setup along nesting areas and migration routes of the birds most admired in the United States. At its worst, 2,000 eagles, hawks, and owls were scraped off of turbines annually. Those issues have been addressed and now there are much fewer turbines thoughtfully located to minimize death and destructions to the very creatures we are trying to preserve and protect. The turbines have also become much bigger and far fewer in number. At its peak, there were 6,000 turbines. Today, there are less than 300.
Even with the reduced scale, more power is realized from the Altamont Pass Wind Farm now than at any other time in its history. Power geeks estimated that total power generated annual is in excess of 1.1 terawatt-hours (TWh), or about 1,100 gigawatt-hours (GWh). That provides power to approximately 50,000 homes in the East Bay.
David
