Resource Documents: Italy (7 items)

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Date added: September 15, 2019
Denmark, Europe, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Noise, Regulations, Technology •

Implementation of the issue of noise from wind turbines at low frequencies

Author: Marini, Martino; et al.

ABSTRACT—
The enduring energy scenario leads to further promote the development of the exploitation of renewable energy sources. Recent European standards have been defining a path to reach in 2050 a level of decarbonization lower of 80% compared to 1990. Wind farms have been growing quickly for [the] last decade with individual wind turbines getting larger and larger. In addition to the benefits of containing greenhouse gas emissions and restraining the use of depletable resources, drawbacks have also appeared due to noise generation from wind turbines and adverse reaction of some nearby residents. The noise generated by wind turbines has a broad spectrum character but the low frequency noise causes special problems. It is a fact that in different European countries special laws have been adopted to impose noise limits and evaluation methods for the assessment of environmental low frequency noise from this kind of sound source. Other countries are still lacking specific rules but in the authorization procedure such analysis is required by environmental control agencies. The purpose of this study consists of comparing the assessment procedures currently used in different European countries for the prediction of low frequency noise from wind turbines and its propagation. The comparison of procedures gives a chance to put forward progressions in low frequency noise emission and reception.

Martino MARINI, DADU University of Sassari, Italy
Costantino Carlo MASTINO, Roberto BACCOLI, Andrea FRATTOLILLO, DICAAR University of Cagliari, Italy
Antonino DI BELLA5, DII University of Padova, Italy

Proceedings of the 23rd International Congress on Acoustics, 9–13 September 2019, Aachen, Germany: pages 1441–1446

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Date added: March 25, 2011
Environment, Italy •

Seismic noise by wind farms: A case study from the Virgo Gravitational Wave Observatory, Italy

Author: Saccorotti, Gilberto; Piccinini, Davide; Cauchie, Léna; and Fiori, Irene

[Abstract] We present analyses of the noise wave field in the vicinity of Virgo, the Italian–French gravitational wave observatory located close to Pisa, Italy, with special reference to the vibrations induced by a nearby wind farm. The spectral contribution of the wind turbines is investigated using (1) onsite measurements, (2) correlation of spectral amplitudes with wind speed, (3) directional properties determined via multichannel measurements, and (4) attenuation of signal amplitude with distance. Among the different spectral peaks thus discriminated, the one at frequency 1.7 Hz is associated with the greatest power, and under particular conditions it can be observed at distances as large as 11 km from the wind farm. The spatial decay of amplitudes exhibits a complicated pattern, which we interpret in terms of the combination of direct surface waves and body waves refracted at a deep (~800 m) interface between the Plio-Pleistocenic marine, fluvial, and lacustrine sediments and the Miocene carbonate basement. We develop a model for wave attenuation that allows determining the amplitude of the radiation from individual turbines, which is estimated on the order of 300-400 µs⁻¹/√Hz for wind speeds over the 8–14 m/s range. On the basis of this model, we then develop a predictive relationship for assessing the possible impact of future wind farm projects.

Gilberto Saccorotti and Davide Piccinini
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione di Pisa Via U, della Faggiola, 32-56126, Pisa, Italy. saccorotti@pi.ingv.it davide.piccinini@ingv.it

Léna Cauchie*
UCD School of Geological Sciences, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland. lena.cauchie@gmail.com
Also at Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Pisa, Italy.

Irene Fiori
European Gravitational Observatory, Via E. Amaldi 56021, S.Stefano a Macerata, Cascina (PI), Italy. irene.fiori@ego-gw.it

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America; April 2011; v. 101; no. 2; p. 568-578; DOI: 10.1785/0120100203

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Date added: May 8, 2010
Economics, Italy •

Are Green Jobs Real Jobs? The Case of Italy

Author: Lavecchia, Luciano; and Stagnaro, Carlo

In this paper we have reviewed the available evidence on green jobs, finding that no conclusive evidence is possible regarding the net effect of green subsidies on total employment. According to the existing literature, though, the net occupational effect of green subsidies may be positive insofar as a country is a technology-producer and –exporter. Italy is neither, which leaves room for a presumption of a negative net impact on employment. Moreover, some studies – most notably Calzada et al. (2009) – find that the net occupational effect may be negative in Spain, which is a technology-producer and –exporter.

In order to assess the situation in Italy, we have first of all estimated the amount of subsidies that have been spent or committed on renewables. To do so we have assumed the country will meet its 2020 “maximum potential” for wind and PV power, as calculated by the Italian Government (2007). This is likely to be an overestimate, leading to overestimating the number jobs that will be created. Then, we have reviewed the existing estimates on the actual number of green jobs. Even though we feel that virtually all these studies overestimate the number of green jobs, we have taken them as a given, in order to use them as a basis for our projection of job creation by 2020. With these data, we have been able to estimate the total stock of capital embodied in the wind and PV capacity that will be on field in 2020, and hence to estimate the average stock of capital per worker.

Finally, we have compared the average stock of capital per worker in the RES with the average stock of capital per worker in the industry and the entire economy, finding an average ratio of 6.9 and 4.8, respectively. To put it another way, the same amount of capital that creates one job in the green sector, would create 6.9 or 4.8 if invested in industry or the economy in general, respectively – although differences exist between RESs themselves, with wind power more likely to create jobs than PV power. This fact is particularly relevant because we didn’t even consider the non-trivial value of the renewable energy produced, but we focused on pure subsidies. If we had considered the energy value, the average stock of capital per worker would be even higher. Since subsidies are forcibly taken away from the economic cycle and allocated for political purposes, it is especially important to have a clear vision of what consequences they bring.

This does not necessarily mean that the creation of one green job would destroy 7 jobs in the industry. This just suggests what is obvious by anecdotal and financial evidence, i.e. that the green industry is a capital-intensive, not a labor-intensive, industry. It is no surprise, therefore, that green investments generate fewer jobs than investments in other sectors of the economy, and most notably the industrial sector. This does not even necessarily mean that the green economy is a net loss of resources, although there is some evidence even for this.

The only scope, and we dare to say the only result, of our study is to show that green investments are an ineffective policy for job creation. Regardless to their other merits, that we have not reviewed in this paper, to the extent that the “green deal” is aimed at creating employment or purported as anti-crisis or stimulus policy, it is a wrong policy choice.

Istituto Bruno Leoni, May 2010

IBL is grateful to GAS INTENSIVE Soc. Consortile a r.l. – Milano – for its support of this study.

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