At COP27, India submitted its long-term climate action strategy for how it plans to achieve its net-zero emissions goal by 2070. Among the elements highlighted: expanding renewables and strengthening the grid. The goal is to be able to generate 50 per cent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030.
While this transition to renewable sources of energy is essential in response to the climate crisis, renewable technologies, too, can be harmful to nature if poorly planned and designed. According to the State of the World’s Birds 2022 report, if renewable energy developments were sited solely to maximise energy production, 11 million hectares of natural habitat could be lost globally, including over 3 million hectares in key biodiversity areas. Perversely, this loss of natural habitat would result in the release of almost 415 million tonnes of stored carbon, undermining the climate change benefits associated with a transition to renewable energy.
Birds are among the wildlife groups most likely to be impacted by this expansion. They are susceptible to habitat destruction, collision with energy infrastructure, and displacement from favoured habitats, flight paths and migration routes. For instance, a 2018 report by the Wildlife Institute of India showed 40 species, including the Great Indian Bustard and the Lesser Florican, had been impacted by solar and wind power lines in the Thar region due to collision or electrocution. Both are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Earlier, in 2011, over 400 flamingos died due to electrocution by power transmission lines in Kutch, Gujarat.
Cause for concern
During the last 7.5 years, India has witnessed the fastest rate of growth in renewable energy capacity addition among all large economies. Renewable energy capacity (including large hydro) has grown 1.97 times and solar energy expanded over 18 times. Wind power installed capacity too has increased 1.9 times to about 40 GW, with the country now having the 4th largest wind power capacity in the world.
To support this transition, there’s been significant growth in the powerline network. It is estimated that there are already over 65 million kilometres of high and medium voltage powerlines in the world — enough to stretch to the moon and back 169 times. In order for the world to reduce its emissions, it has been suggested that this network will need to more than double globally. Overhead powerlines pose two major threats to birds — electrocution and collision. Over time, it can put severe strain on already depleting bird populations.
For example, as per the State of the World’s Birds 2022 report, bustards are heavy, fast-flying birds with low manoeuvrability and limited frontal vision, making them ill-equipped to negotiate landscapes containing powerlines. While there are several reasons for the decline in the Great Indian Bustard populations in India, today the single greatest cause of its mortality is collision with powerlines (16 per cent). Without intervention, the extinction of this species is projected within 20 years.
Wind and solar power also require significantly more land for producing energy compared with fossil fuels and nuclear power. The coming decades will see land across the globe set aside for windfarms and solar facilities. If poorly sited, it could have a considerable impact on wildlife populations. Renewable energy facilities can alter the composition of ecosystems by changing predator-prey interactions. In the Western Ghats, for example, windfarms have been shown to cause an increase in the density of lizards by suppressing the abundance and activity of predatory raptors species such as Buteo, Butastur and Elanus.
Another study in Karnataka indicates that certain bird and mammal species avoided wind turbine‑dominated sites, affecting their distribution pattern. “If an energy project is on the migratory path of birds or bats, or in wildlife habitats, or close to water bodies, then it can have a negative impact. Otherwise, there’s no impact,” says Honnavalli N Kumara, principal scientist, conservation biology, Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, and lead author of the study.
Work in progress
There is growing realisation about the conflicts arising between the deployment of clean energy and wildlife conservation at a local level. In 2018, a panel of forest experts of India’s environment ministry suggested measures to be adopted by all the wind power companies in India to counter the threats from windfarms to birds, including migratory birds and raptors. Among them: painting the vane tips of wind turbines orange to prevent birds from flying into the turbines and mandatory deployment of bird flight diverters at regular intervals on conductors.
But more needs to be done. Among initiatives working towards a better understanding of the situation is the Bird Sensitivity Map for India created by the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), in collaboration with Birdlife International. The beta launch in June showcased how the tool will help identify locations suitable for wind and solar energy and unlikely to negatively impact birds, as well as areas that are highly sensitive and should be avoided.
Ramesh Kumar, a scientist at the BNHS, said: "The location identification with the help of this tool will be most beneficial to the threatened and high collision risk birds such as Gyps vultures, Great Indian Bustard, raptors, and water birds such as flamingos, pelicans, and cranes. It will also be beneficial for some passerines and ground birds that are displaced due to the renewable energy infrastructure."
Renewable energy projects are much needed for economic development and to mitigate the effects of climate change. But it will only be a win-win situation if we are able to conserve bird species while transitioning to clean energy.
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