Dutch wind farm to save eagles’ lives with #smart #cameras on #turbines
One of the biggest criticisms of the #wind farm proliferation in Europe has been the harm that the blades of the turbines cause to the local birdlife. Now it seems that there is a solution being tried out by a wind farm in Zeewolde (Netherlands), which involves the installation of smart cameras on the wind turbines.
The essence of the project is to have the cameras stop the rotation of the blades automatically if they identify the incoming object as an eagle, thus preventing a collision and injury or death to the animal. The smart device will be able to detect an object from a distance of 1,100 metres and then if the object closes in, at 300 metres the camera will identify it as an eagle and automatically stop the blades for a few minutes.
Why #eagles? Apart from the fact that they are rare and protected animals, being apex predators, their attention is usually focused on the ground below in search of prey. Thus, they might not even notice that there is an object ahead of them.
