http://www.windaction.org/ facts, analysis, exposure of wind energy's real impacts en-us Windaction hourly 1 http://backend.userland.com/rss http://www.windaction.org/documents/38674 Wed, 12 Jun 2013 22:13:17 GMT The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) complaint was filed last week by Stephan C. Volker of Volker Law on behalf of two rural East County grassroots non-profit groups. It challenges the San Diego County Board of Supervisors' May 15th 4-1 vote approving the Wind Energy Ordinance and Plan Amendment that sacrifices predominantly low-income rural communities and valued resources for unreliable, intermittent, and expensive industrial-scale wind and solar projects. http://www.windaction.org/documents/38674 http://www.windaction.org/documents/38599 Wed, 05 Jun 2013 01:44:28 GMT Dr. Ray Hartman prepared this detailed critical review of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MA DEP) “Wind Turbine Health Impact Study, Report of Independent Expert Panel,” released January 2012. Dr. Hartman demonstrates the fallacy of using the findings of the DEP study to justify wind turbine siting. An excerpt of Dr. Hartman's report is provided below. The full critique can be found by clicking on the link(s) at the bottom of this page. http://www.windaction.org/documents/38599 http://www.windaction.org/documents/38602 Sat, 01 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMT Alberta’s electricity grid is characterized as deregulated and thermally dependent with a growing number of wind power facilities. Using a model to simulate both the unit commitment and economic dispatch decisions of the system operator, the total net CO2 reductions that result from the addition of wind energy into a heavily fossil-fuel based grid are estimated, assuming that contingency reserves are provided by part-loaded natural-gas fired units. Increasing wind generation levels lead to increased CO2 levels from reserve energy production but total CO2 levels decline slightly. http://www.windaction.org/documents/38602 http://www.windaction.org/documents/38598 Sat, 01 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMT This paper by acoustics expert, Paul Schomer, explains how noise at very low frequency levels can be heard. The fundamental issue is: Can we hear slowly surging or pulsating sounds for which the LEQ spectrum is below the threshold of hearing, where "slowly" means that the pulses come at a rate that is no faster than about 4 pulses per second? The short answer is yes, and the longer answer is that this effect is a function of the spectral content and becomes more-and-more prominent as the spectral content goes lower-and-lower in the audible frequency range. http://www.windaction.org/documents/38598 http://www.windaction.org/documents/38597 Sat, 01 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMT Wind turbines are rapidly increasing in number. In this paper, the example of the province of Ontario, Canada will be used. The Global Wind Energy Council tracks the world wide installed wind turbines, showing a 10-fold increase in the 10 years from 2001 to 2011 to nearly 240,000 MW. In Ontario the wind turbine capacity has increased over one hundred-fold from about 15 MW in 2003 to about 1700 MW at the end of 2012, and anticipates to continue to more than triple the total wind capacity to 5811 MW by 2015. Health Canada has a study underway on the health effects of wind turbines that will not report before this increase in wind turbine capacity is made. This paper will look at the basis for regulation of the installed wind turbine base in Ontario and investigates consequences of the installations identified already. http://www.windaction.org/documents/38597 http://www.windaction.org/documents/38590 Sat, 01 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMT In the Ontario electricity generation sector, this paper shows that selection of an intermittent carbon free wind generator actually increases the carbon emissions by displacing other carbon free generators, nuclear and hydraulic, and requiring the operation of carbon emitting natural gas and even coal generators to provide support for when the intermittent wind generation routinely falls in output. The introduction and conclusion of this paper are shown below. The full paper can be accessed by clicking on the link(s) at the bottom of this page. http://www.windaction.org/documents/38590 http://www.windaction.org/documents/38519 Thu, 30 May 2013 14:12:08 GMT This speech was delivered on the floor of the Australian House of Representatives in harsh response to an anonymous letter of complaint filed against Dr. Sarah Laurie. The complaint is viewed by many as a part of a larger campaign to discredit Dr. Laurie and her work to disclose the health effects of siting wind turbines too close to where people live. http://www.windaction.org/documents/38519 http://www.windaction.org/documents/38449 Fri, 24 May 2013 17:06:18 GMT http://www.windaction.org/documents/38449 http://www.windaction.org/documents/38484 Thu, 23 May 2013 16:09:38 GMT Professor Colin Hansen of the University of Adelaide in South Australia authored this important critique where he explains that low-frequency noise produced by industrial scale wind turbines, in fact, does fall within the threashold of human hearing and can disturb sleep and lead to other possible adverse health effects. http://www.windaction.org/documents/38484 http://www.windaction.org/documents/38434 Mon, 20 May 2013 01:43:06 GMT NH Superior Court has found that the Town of Antrim was in viloation of the State's Right to Know law by conducting numerious unnoticed, non-public meetings to negotiate the PILOT agreement between the Town and Antrim Wind LLC, a company seeking to erect a wind energy facility in the Town. A portion of the ruling is provided below. The full order can be accessed by clicking on the link at the bottom of this page. http://www.windaction.org/documents/38434