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iii. Birds, <br />The most common - and most <br />exaggerated - misconception about <br />both large and small turbines is that <br />they are disproportionately harmful <br />to bird and bat populations. Even the <br />vastly larger, utility -scale wind farms <br />that are grouped closely in large arrays <br />account for less than 0.00311/o of all <br />human -caused bird deaths. 12 House <br />cats and glass windows, by comparison, <br />cause 10,000 times more bird deaths <br />than do wind turbines. No study has <br />been performed specifically to address <br />avian effects of small wind turbines, <br />but because of their dispersed nature <br />and small size, it can be inferred that <br />iv. "Icing": <br />Like trees,.street lamps, or other <br />structures, turbines in cold climates <br />can become covered in ice, which falls <br />to the ground as it melts. But just as <br />an airplane's wing must be de-iced in <br />order for it to fly, a turbine's blade must <br />be free of ice in order to rotate at any <br />significant speed. The weight and <br />aerodynamic interference of ice buildup <br />slows the blades' rotation to a near <br />12 "Environmental Impacts of wind -Energy Projects." <br />National Academy of Sciences, 2007. <br />http: //books. nap,edu/catalog.php?record_id=11935 <br />13 Erickson, et.al, 2002. Summary of Anthropogenic <br />Causes of Bird Mortality <br />they have an even smaller impact than <br />their larger counterparts.' <br />Environmental impact or avian <br />migration studies should not be <br />required for individual small wind <br />turbine installations. Are environmental <br />impact studies required for every plate <br />glass window or pet license? Small wind <br />turbines in fact offer a net benefit to <br />local and global environments: they <br />emit no air pollutants; require no mining <br />for fuel nor water for cooling, and have <br />land use "footprints" of only a few <br />square feet. <br />stand -still, making any melting ice fall <br />straight downward rather than being <br />thrown from the blade. <br />To put this in further perspective, a 1998 <br />study calculated that the risk of personal <br />or property damage from ice falling from <br />a.(large) turbine is lower than the risk of. <br />being struck by lightning .14 <br />_a Bossanyi, Morgan, and Siefert. "Assessment <br />of Safety Risks Arising From wind Turbine icing." <br />Finland, April 1998, - <br />