Wind turbines have become the bane of US President Donald Trump’s existence. In recent years, Trump has on many occasions stated that wind turbines and the farms that house them are killing millions of birds and other wildlife. While that may be true to some extent, the data show that the numbers are far less than what the President says. Several turbine manufacturers are painting stripes on their wind turbine blades that serve multiple purposes; some help protect the local wildlife, while others play a more informative role in the global energy sector.
Stripes on wind turbines help prevent millions of birds from being killed every year
Some turbine manufacturers have been made aware that their turbines are causing millions of bird fatalities every year. While this is no doubt concerning, data reveal that regular power lines, and even the average cat in your house, kill far more birds every year than wind turbines. Some wildlife researchers have proposed painting black and white stripes on turbines to help the poor birds see the impending danger and fly clear of the huge wind turbines and their blades.
Two eggheads in the United Kingdom have been developing a new black and white stripe pattern that may help prevent millions of birds from flying straight into the exceedingly large wind turbine blades. Alex Banks at Natural England and Graham Martin at the University of Birmingham devised the new black and white stripey pattern that several wind turbine manufacturers have adopted.
Painting stripes on wind turbines may be the answer we have been looking for
The researchers from the United Kingdom have proposed painting black and white stripes on the blades of wind turbines, which they claim will dramatically reduce wind farm collisions with birds and other migrating species. The proposal comes after a similar design was used in Norway, which brought down bird deaths from collisions with turbines by up to 70%.
There is another reason to paint wind turbines with stripes of color
Have you ever seen a wind turbine with red stripes painted on the blades of the turbine? If you have seen them and ever wondered what the purpose is, we have an answer for you. Companies paint red stripes on wind turbine blades to indicate the proximity to an airport, which is vital information. As the world embraces the wind power sector, a litany of new wind farms has been constructed all over the international energy market.
Essentially, the red stripes indicate how far the wind turbine is from the nearest airport. One red stripe indicates that the wind turbine is less than 5 km away from the nearest airport. If there is no airport within a 5km radius of the wind turbine, it will have two distinct red stripes painted on it. Environmental groups have noted that the red stripes also help birds avoid the turbines during their migration flights.
“Fossil fuels contribute to climate change, increased air pollution, and negative impacts on human and animal health, including birds, among other issues. Wind energy is an electricity generation technology that significantly reduces such environmental and health impacts.” – Michael Howland, MIT professor of civil and environmental engineering
2026 brings with it a new surge in wind energy projects around the world
With the new year well and truly on a roll, the astonishing surge of wind farms being constructed is set to reshape the global energy market. Germany has the new Firrel II wind project, the UK has the Doggerbank wind farm, and the rest of the world is developing its own wind energy projects. A question that may need answering is which of these new projects this year will take the advice given and paint one or more of their wind turbine blades to help reduce the number of birds flying into them?