Environmental Effects of Solar-Thermal Power Systems: Ecological Observations During Early Testing of the Barstow 10-MWe Pilot STPS

摘要

Environmental measurements were continued at Solar One during 1982, while final steps in construction and early testing were carried out. Measurements of sand depths downwind (east) of the heliostat field indicated that some of the sand blown off the field (most of it between September 1979 and March 1980) has been carried farther east, reducing sand depths somewhat in areas just east of the field. Observations of birds between March and June 1982 revealed that (1) the natural avifauna of the field has been altered, although the area is still used for feeding by some icterids (larks, blackbirds) and aerial insectivores (swallows, swifts); (2) of 15 bird casualties ascribable to the presence and/or operation of Solar One, 12 followed collisions with heliostats, three resulted from incineration in heliostat beams; (3) the central receiver tower does not appear to be a source of mortality. Numbers of rodents (particularly kangaroo rats) trapped in areas downwind of the site declined steadily between 1978 and 1982 in areas both clost to the field and as far east as 600 m from the fence. The most likely interpretation of these changes is a reduction in reproductivity and/or early survival caused by four consecutive years (1978, 1979, 1980, 1981) of suboptimal autumn rainfall. Micrometeorological measurements in areas downwind of Solar One showed small effects on air temperatures (<0.5 exp 0 C), wind speeds (<0.4 m/sec), and evaporation rates. (ERA citation 08:012125)