posted: November 21, 2009 • Canada, Health, Noise, Ontario, Regulations

Inadequacy of wind turbine noise regulations and their application

Author: Harrison, John

CONCLUSION
Regulations for wind turbine noise presently in force are inadequate to protect rural residents from annoyance and, in many cases, health problems resulting from operating wind turbines. The typical noise limit of 40 dBA needs to be reduced to 35 dBA. There needs to be a 5 dBA penalty for amplitude modulation. There needs to be an analysis of turbulent inflow noise, for both atmospheric and wake turbulence. The uncertainty of noise prediction codes must be included. Together, these essential upgrades to regulation will push setbacks to the 1.5 km range where they should be.

Presentation to the annual conference of the Canadian Acoustics Association, October 2009, Niagara-on-the-Lake

John P Harrison
Physics Department, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6 harrisjp@physics.queensu.ca

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