Search Results
Magical more efficient wind turbine of the month
September 2, 2011A Japanese research effort that’s been around for a while has gotten a blast of media fame this week, claiming the potential to triple power generation by using a ring around the blade-swept disc that focuses wind past the blades, as well as, I think, capturing some of the energy off the blade tips. Sounds […]
Consensus-building on wind farm siting
August 29, 2011This is somewhat old news, but I just heard about this workshop (thanks to Kathy Hemenway), and it’s full of useful insights: in March, the Consensus Building Institute brought together 100 wind farm developers, environmentalists, state regulators, and technical experts, including proponents and opponents of wind energy, to spend three days discussing what works – […]
UK Defence Ministry nixes more wind farms along Scottish borderlands
August 19, 2011Wind development in the promising borderlands region along the Scottish/English border has come to a standstill, due to very low intensity ground vibrations interfering with a key nuclear test ban monitoring station in Eskdalemur, Scotland. The Ministry of Defence has been tracking the increasing seismic interference from wind farms in the region, and says that any more […]
Investigative films focus on wind farm controversies in Australia, UK
August 3, 2011A couple of in-depth reports on communities roiling with wind farm controversies are currently viewable online. Both seem to present a fairly balanced story, featuring locals struggling with noise, locals and consultants who see the problems as minimal and wind development as necessary and important, and some government officials trying to make sense of it […]
UK court OKs amplitude modulation limits, wind industry scrambles to comply
July 25, 2011The UK wind industry is scrambling to respond to a High Court ruling that affirmed the legaltiy of conditions placed on the Den Brook wind farm near Devon, limiting ampltude modulation of wind turbine noise to a level that could be very hard to comply with. After years of pooh-poohing the reports of neighbors who […]
SW Michigan town settles on 40dB night noise limit for turbines
July 10, 2011Riga, Michigan has adopted a wind farm ordinance that limits noise at nearby residences to 45dB during the day and 40dB at night, and the wind developer says they cannot meet these limits on the land they’ve leased. The rules also establish a distance limit of 4x the height of the turbines; this amounts to […]
Aussie wind farm denied: 1km (over a half-mile) is too close
July 1, 2011An Australian wind farm was derailed this week when the Environment Resources and Development Court in the state of South Australia ruled in favor of a dairy farmer who challenged an earlier approval. The Court rejected evidence related to possible health effects, but ruled that the planned wind farm would impact on the “visual amenity” […]
AEI is not a “wind objector”
June 2, 2011Thanks to Google News’ nifty customized news sections, I hear about articles worldwide that contain terms interesting to AEI, such as “ocean noise,” “wind turbine noise,” and, yup, “Acoustic Ecology.” Yesterday I saw that David Colby, one of the authors of the widely-read report on wind turbine health effects, had responded to an article that questioned […]
The latest on far-offshore floating wind turbines
May 5, 2011Regular readers will know that I’m excited by the potentials for far-offshore floating wind turbines. Less construction noise, less disturbance of the seafloor, more construction can take place on land rather than at sea (meaning less loud boat activity)…..it all adds up to much less noise impact in our coastal ocean environment, which is very […]
Did wind farm reduce nearby property values on Wolfe Island?
May 5, 2011A couple on Wolfe Island, Ontario are asking their local officials to reduce the valuation of their home by about 17% due to its proximity to a wind farm that began operating two years ago. Wolfe Island is in the St. Lawrence, and sits a couple miles from the New York town of Cape Vincent, […]
State reports recommends 1000 foot wind farm setbacks in Maine
May 2, 2011Maine’s Office of Energy Independence and Security has delivered a long-awaited report on wind farm siting to the state legislature. The lead recommendation is that the minimum distance between commercial wind turbines and residences be nearly doubled, to 1000 feet; current standards are based on safety, not noise, while the proposed increase is meant to […]
NREL to study turbulence in wind turbine wakes
April 27, 2011The US National Renewable Energy Laboratory is about to begin a new study of the turbulent wakes that appear downwind from wind turbines. Such turbulence can decrease the efficiency of turbines as well as creating physical stresses on the machinery; many researchers also suspect that inconsistent wind speeds across the rotor diameter contributes to increased […]
Maine legislature considers slew of wind farm bills
April 26, 2011It’s “wind week” at the Maine state legislature, where the Utilities and Energy Committee is hearing two days of testimony on a slate of 14 bills that have been introduced to regulate wind energy development. One bill would mandate property value guarantees, and another would impose setbacks of a mile and a quarter from homes. […]
New wind farm illustrates divided reactions
February 17, 2011This short story from Australia neatly sums up the divide in many communities over wind farm development. Black Springs resident Kerry Heinrich (above) is happy to have wind turbines in her backyard. At yesterday’s launch of the Waterloo wind farm – 30km from Clare – Ms Heinrich said the 37 wind turbines created only “background noise”. […]
Down East wind features call for half-mile or more setbacks, floating offshore, limited forest ridge development
February 12, 2011Down East magazine, a Maine institution, has published a series of stories on wind power in Maine, with enough detail to be valuable to people in any rural state who are trying to find the proper balance on wind development. The series includes in-depth articles on the University of Maine’s leadership in developing floating far-offshore […]
Ontario wind farm law court challenge to be heard today
January 24, 2011Today in Toronto, an Ontario Superior Court will begin hearing a challenge to wind farm siting provisions of the province’s new Green Energy Act, which set a minimum distance from wind turbines to homes at 550 meters. The Ottawa Citizen has a good, detailed article about the legal challenge, which you can read here. UPDATE: […]
Town, wind company spar over property-value rules
December 16, 2010A new but long-simmering front has opened in the push-and-pull struggle between wind companies advocating the status quo and communities uncertain about how to deal with reports they hear from elsewhere that suggest industrial-scale wind farms have unintended consequences, including chronic noise impacts and reduced property values. This may not be the first time it’s […]
AEI helps edit National Geo ocean noise piece
December 15, 2010A few months back, I was contacted by an editor at National Geographic, asking me to fact-check a short piece they were preparing on ocean noise (the author, who I’d talked to a few times, had recommended me). The piece came out this week in print and online, and I’m pleased to say that my input […]
AEI presents poster at 8th Wind and Wildlife Research Meeting
October 29, 2010I was pleased to be able to attend the 8th Wind and Wildlife Research Meeting, which took place in Denver from October 19-21. Sponsored by the National Wind Coordinating Collaborative, this event brings together folks from agencies, the academic research community, some NGOs, and the wind industry. The major focus is direct impacts on wildlife, […]
AEI at Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life conference
September 20, 2010I’ve been way lax in posting about my trip to Cork, Ireland for the 2nd International Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life conference, which took place in mid-August. It was such a treat to take part in this gathering of nearly 250 ocean scientists and regulators, leavened with a sprinkling of NGO folks. It was a […]
Dreaming big in offshore wind, inspired by sycamore seeds
July 27, 2010Most 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 […]
Falmouth followup: turbines shut down in high winds
July 26, 2010As 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
July 20, 2010On 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
July 11, 2010I’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
June 8, 2010Litchfield 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 […]