Content © Stopwoodlanewindfarm 2008 - 2011
|
Recent worldwide reports of noise problems |
Wind turbines are as well as, not instead of the power stations
Australia - Noise case puts wind farms in doubt
A court challenge in South Australia could disrupt plans to develop wind farms across the country after AGL Energy conceded tests at its wind farm in the state's northeast detected a tonal noise above government-set limits.
The legal challenge by South Australian farmer Bill Quinn centres on an argument that the turbines in AGL Energy's Hallett Wind Farm emit excessive noise that results in the sleep deprivation of residents living within 3.5km.
The legal challenge by South Australian farmer Bill Quinn centres on an argument that the turbines in AGL Energy's Hallett Wind Farm emit excessive noise that results in the sleep deprivation of residents living within 3.5km.
USA - New York State - “It’s like living within 50 yards of an Air Force base,”
Herkimer County, New York is the latest location to register wind turbine noise complaints.
Resident Mr James Salamone has compared the loudest noises generated by the turbines to the take-off of a fighter jet. “It’s like living within 50 yards of an Air Force base,” he said recently. “It doesn’t matter if the windows are closed or not.”
He continued, “I don’t know how long my wife and I can stand it. It’s on and off. You can never get used to it.”
He continued, “I don’t know how long my wife and I can stand it. It’s on and off. You can never get used to it.”
So why were the noise problems not avoided - the lie behind turbine noise models
The source of the noise is Iberdrola's Hardscrabble wind facility (37 turbines) that went online earlier this year. Studies are planned to determine if the project is operating outside legal sound limits, but the larger question is 'Why?'. Why, with over 1,300 megawatts of wind installed in New York today and an extensive body of evidence showing turbine noise is causing deleterious impacts on people living near the towers, was Herkimer County fooled into thinking it would be spared?
The answer is simple: Herkimer County residents were lied to. The truth is that wind farm noise predictions cannot be relied upon and may produce serious underestimates. Read more
USA Illinois - Wind energy group wants further setback distance in Adams County
"We're discovering that they create noise, they make it hard for people to live next to them," Gebhardt said. "So why not be responsible and set that distance further away now than have some Adams County residents have to suffer with problems we already know that other people have got."
Call for 1500 metre limit
In North Carolina, their state Health official, after engaging in a detailed study of the most recent health data, has begun to push for a statewide 4900 foot (1500 meter) residential setback. Most European countries, after having several years of experience living with wind energy, have increased their setbacks to a mile or more.
...and a property value guarantee when a turbine is closer than 2 miles.
Many wind representatives argue that there is no loss in property value near a wind turbine, and if that debated theory is correct, then there is no risk to them in offering a fairly-crafted property value guarantee. To fail to include this provision means that the company, and by extension, the County Board, is forcing residents to bet their homes that the wind company's theory about property values is true. Full story here.
Dynamic measurements of wind turbine acoustic signals, employing sound quality engineering methods considering the time and frequency sensitivities of human perception
July 25, 2011 by Wade Bray and Richard James
In this paper presented at Noise-Con 2011, acoustic experts Wade Bray and Richard James investigate how the complexity and varying behaviour of sound signals emitted from industrial wind turbines have been ignored or inadequately modelled and/or measured. Their findings demonstrate why current standards for modelling and measuring wind turbine sound frequently understate the impact of the noise on a community.
The research shows that wind turbine noise is still not understood and that people living close to turbines have much to fear concerning the effects of the noise emitted.
Wind turbines don’t have to be loud to be annoying.
