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Noise and Health
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For an introduction...
... to this subject, listen to the harrowing personal account of the effects of wind turbine noise on a farming family in Lincolnshire. To watch the video click here.
To hear what a wind turbine sounds like...
click here.
The prediction and measurement of noise levels...
...are technical and complex subjects. If you want a gentle introduction, click here to visit Country Guardian's website.
On the same website, there's a very useful and readable paper by the UK Noise Association, entitled ‘Location, Location, Location - An investigation into wind farms and noise'.
The current position on wind turbine noise
Perhaps the most important point to remember is that developers base their predictions of the impact of wind turbine noise on ETSU-R-97, a standard written 14 years ago when wind turbines were much smaller and the blade tip speed was much slower than is the case today. All developers state in their publicity material that they will comply with the ETSU-R-97 standard. However, even if they do comply with this standard, the levels of noise for residents who live nearby can still be unbearable. The technical term for the most harmful type of noise is "Amplitude Modulation of Aerodynamic Noise".
A growing community of acoustic experts now believe that this standard is inappropriate and out of date and that a new "fit for purpose" standard should be drafted and implemented as soon as possible. To see the paper written by Dick Bowdler of New Acoustics about this, click here.
The Renewable Energy Foundation, an independent and authoritative source of information about wind turbine noise, has recently challenged the reports commissioned by the Government on industrial wind turbine noise. For more information click here.
Health
There is a great deal of evidence about the detrimental impact that noise generated by wind turbines can have on personal health. Much of the evidence is anecdotal, however there is an increasing body of research.
Click here to visit Dr Nina Pierpoint's website which includes important peer reviewed research about this topic.
Click here to view Dr Christopher Hanning's recent report
on "Sleep disturbance and wind turbine noise"
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"A windfarm is not the answer"
Paul Kingsnorth,
The Guardian, 31st July, 2009
"Wind power is a complete disaster"
Michael Trebilcock,
National Post Canada,
April 8th, 2009
"Wind farms risk becoming 'redundant symbols' warns CPRE"
Louise Grey,
Environment Correspondent,
The Telegraph,
24th July, 2009
"How can wind turbines generate so much lunacy?"
Christopher Booker,
The Sunday Telegraph, 19th July, 2009
"When wind power blows, jobs will fall"
Dominic Lawson,
The Sunday Times,
19th July 2009
"Renewable Energy Strategy is Inconsistent and Implausible"
Dr John Constable, The Renewable Energy Foundation,15th July, 2009
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Noise and Health