Dreaming big in offshore wind, inspired by sycamore seeds

Most of the new wind turbine designs you see floating around the tech blogosphere are oriented toward small backyard turbines, in the tens or hundreds of kW range.  So it was kind of a thrill to see this new design for a 10MW offshore turbine, partly inspired by a spinning sycamore seed:
After an 18-month feasibility study [...]

Falmouth followup: turbines shut down in high winds

As noted here on AIEnews in May, a single new wind turbine in Falmouth, Massachusetts triggered noise problems for many nearby residents (12 formal complaints were filed, an unusually high number for any community, and residents of up to 45 of the 120 homes within a mile raised concerns in informal local meetings).  The town [...]

AEI presentation: NEWEEP webinar on wind farm sound

On July 13, I was honored to be one of three presenters in a webinar sponsored by the New England Wind Energy Education Project (NEWEEP), a DOE-funded project of Wind Powering America.  Complementing the technical and regulatory information presented by Mark Bastasch and Ken Kalinsky, my presentation focused on the “qualitatitive” data that we are receiving [...]

Wind Turbine Sound webinar, Tuesday July 13

I’ll be one of three presenters at what promises to be an informative 90-minute webinar taking place on Tuesday July 13.  It’s one of a series of wind energy programs being produced by the New England Wind Energy Education Project, a DOE-funded public information effort.  My piece will add a look at the experiential reports [...]

NY town draft wind ordinance: easements from all residents within 6500 feet

Litchfield NY is considering a relatively flexible, while stringent, local ordinance to govern construction of wind farms.  As proposed by a committee of residents charged by the Town Council, the ordinance would avoid strict setback or decibel limits, and instead require easements to be obtained from all residents within 6500 feet of a turbine (just under [...]

Porpoises stay 20km away from wind farm construction

An article in Der Spiegel reveals that the environmental impact study at a 12-turbine wind farm 30km off the coast of Germany has reported that during construction of the turbines, porpoises avoided an area in a 20-mile radius of the two-square mile construction site.  Harbor porpoises are well known to be more sensitive to sound [...]

WV wind farm agrees to operational constraints to protect bats

This one passed under my radar in January, but has some potentially interesting implications for people working to minimize the negative effects of wind farms on wildlife and humans, in that the developer agreed to shut turbines down at night, at least temporarily.  In December, a Federal court halted construction of the Beech Ridge wind [...]

Community health/disruptions section omitted from Ontario wind farm health report

As noted in a previous post, a recent report by the Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) in Ontario focused on the narrow question of whether there is a “direct causal link between wind turbine noise and adverse health effects” experienced by some wind farm neighbors.  Based on a review of published research, the answer [...]

Lawsuits begin to crop up, challenging nearby wind farms

In recent months, several lawsuits and formal complaints have been filed, claiming unlawful nuisance and/or impacts on property values and quality of life near wind farms.  Most recently, sixteen residents sued the Michigan Wind I wind farm and its developers, laying out a series of complaints, including (as detailed in the Huron Daily Tribune):

Private nuisance [...]

Simple recording of wind turbine sounds

This recording, by one of the wind farm neighbors in Wisconsin who I met when visiting there last fall, is a good, simple taste of the sounds heard from 1500 or so feet away—this one has a predominant jet plane flavor, though often neighbors report a wide variety of sounds that change depending on wind [...]

Ontario health, environment officials agree: on-the-ground sound measurement is needed near wind farms

Over the past week or so, two reports from Ontario have spurred a fair amount of notice and comment among those following wind development issues.  First, the provincial health office responded to the public’s concerns about health problems reported by some wind farm neighbors, framing its answer carefully and narrowly:  ”According to the scientific evidence, [...]

Oregon wind farm ruled too loud: six months to find fix

The Morrow County Planning Board ruled this week that the Willow Creek Energy Center, an 80-turbine wind farm, is producing noise levels that violate Oregon’s noise limits, and gave Invenergy, the wind farm’s owner, six months to get the turbines into compliance.  The wind farm began operating in January 2009, and by March, several neighbors within [...]

Clifton Maine considers 4000 foot setbacks for wind turbines

A private landowner in Clifton, Maine, is hoping to erect four commercial wind turbines on a small ridge known as Pisgah Mountain, and sell the energy to the local utility, Bangor Hydro.  Hearing of negative experiences in other Maine towns, including Mars Hill and Vinalhaven, some local residents are concerned about noise impacts and effects [...]

UK addresses challenges in assessing wind farm noise

England’s primary environmental agency, the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), has commissioned a study to improve techniques for assessing wind farm noise.  ”There is a possibility that local authorities are not currently investigating complaints about noise from wind farms due to the absence of any formal technical guidance,” an internal document reads. “Defra [...]

Third of a mile setback doesn’t prevent wind turbine noise issues in Falmouth

When the town-owned wind turbine began operating at the Falmouth, MA wastewater treatment facility in March, most townspeople saw it as the most striking example of the town’s far-reaching commitment to sustainability.  Since then, it’s generated about a third of the town’s electricity needs, and a second turbine is being readied for installation nearby this [...]

South Dakota residents fail to get half-mile wind farm setbacks

An excellent 3-part series on wind farm development ran this week in the Bismark Tribune. It has a good balance of the excitement and economic benefits that attract farmers to the industry, and well-stated concerns from those who want larger setbacks in order to protect neighbors from noise.  The grey area around health impacts is navigated [...]