May 5, 2008
Noise

Wind Energy Noise Impacts

Cummings, Jim

‘Wind energy has long been a favorite of many environmental advocates. No carbon emissions, utilizing a free resource without depleting it in the least, even the potential for distributed generation rather than distant centralized power plants: for many of us, wind was the cleanest of green power sources in our dreams of the energy future.

‘In recent years, as wind turbines have grown from the small backyard kits that the truly committed built in the 70’s, the reality has made those dreams become less certain. Modern wind turbines are massive structures, hundreds of feet tall, and often constructed in large wind farms that in effect industrialize rural landscapes, from the rolling grassy hills of California, to the vast rangeland of Texas, to ancient ridgelines in the Appalachians, to the commons in rural England. While the trade-offs may be worth it in some areas, the downsides have become more apparent. Resistance to wind farms is often belittled as NIMBY-ism (Not In My Backyard); but at the same time, proponents often slip into oversimplifeid WARYDU rhetoric (We Are Right; You Don’t Understand). If we are to forge a reliable energy future that is respectful of both the environment and the rights of neighbors, we’ll need to move past knee-jerk reactions on both sides, and develop best practices that can ensure that the landscape and local residents don’t become long-term casualties of today’s “Klondike Wind Rush.” …’

Go to: “Wind Energy Noise Impacts” [1] (slightly reformatted from original, two links fixed)

Or go to original and the latest version at Acoustic Ecology Institute: click here [2].


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/documents/wind-energy-noise-impacts/


URLs in this post:

[1] Go to: “Wind Energy Noise Impacts”: https://docs.wind-watch.org/aei_srwind.html

[2] click here: http://acousticecology.org/srwind.html