Documents
Category:
Noise
Presented at the Lycoming County, PA
Zoning Board Hearing on 12/14/2005
Overview
• Measurements at distance of 0.55 miles from
wind farm in Meyersdale, PA
– Sound level measurements
– Sound recordings
• Analysis of the frequency composition of the
noise generated by wind turbines
• Analysis of the ambient noise level as a function
of wind speed
• Discussion of the wind turbine noise
characteristics
The wind energy debate represents a new kind of environmental controversy which divides environmentalists of different persuasions who attach
contrasting priority to global and local concerns. Case
studies of public attitudes towards existing and proposed windfarm developments in Scotland and Ireland are used to test three counter-intuitive hypotheses
derived from previous attitudinal research.
Editor's Note: This study was conducted in collaboration with the Macaulay Institute, Aberdeen. The Institute's commercial arm, Macaulay Enterprises, acts as a consultant for the renewables industry, and is linked to the Scottish Renewables Forum and the British Wind Energy Association.
The pro-wind pre-disposition of the authors is evident and should not be ignored when evaluating survey results. Survey respondents generally expressed support of wind energy based on the belief that it was a solution for global warming. Given wind energy's limited effectiveness in reducing greenhouse gases based on today’s studies, we question how survey participants might respond if contacted again. The report also comments that communities selected had no organized opposition to the wind facilities. Today, throughout England, Wales and Scotland, organized opposition is the norm, not the exception.
Jon Boone's response, published in The Caledonian Record in August 2005, to those who challenged the authenticity of his DVD "Life Under a Windplant".
BBC Research & Consulting's 2005 report for the National Wind Coordinating Committee that studies 9 wind plant sitings in an effort to identify circumstances that distinguish welcomed projects from projects that were not accepted by communities.
This paper recommends a number of 'best practices' for measuring noise created by industrial wind turbines.
I was asked to review the prefiled testimony and exhibits of Matthew Rubin for the East Haven Windfarm and to provide an independent opinion regarding the claimed environmental benefits, estimated benefit values, project footprint and noise impacts and general wind project economic issues.
...I want people to be well aware of the negative side of these giant windmills before allowing them to be built in your neighborhoods.
Department of Environmental Medicine, Goteborg University, P.O. Box 414, SE-405 30 Goteborg, Sweden
(Received 14 November 2003; revised 1 September 2004; accepted 18 September 2004)
These levels (noise) are much higher than predicted by the company.
The attached Pdf file provides a comprehensive overview of wind turbine noise related issues.