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Adverse impacts of wind energy: Difference between revisions
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==Aesthetics== | ==Aesthetics== | ||
Wind turbines meant to supply the grid are hundreds of feet in height, each with blades sweeping a vertical air space of 1.5 to 2 acres (or | Wind turbines meant to supply the grid are hundreds of feet in height, each with blades sweeping a vertical air space of 1.5 to 2 acres (0.5–1 hectare) or more.[http://aweo.org/windmodels.html] At night they require warning lights for airplanes. Because they need to be well away from where people live and work, and because they need a lot of open space around them to adequately catch the wind and not interfere with each other’s wind, they are necessarily erected in formerly undeveloped places: typically farmland and mountain ridges. They inevitably dominate the landscape and destroy the special character, the peace and quiet, especially at night, of those places. (See also “[[#Noise|Noise]]” and “[[#Tourism|Tourism]]” below.) | ||
:''See also:'' [https://www.wind-watch.org/documents/category/aesthetics/?titles=on Wind Watch documents concerning aesthetics] | :''See also:'' [https://www.wind-watch.org/documents/category/aesthetics/?titles=on Wind Watch documents concerning aesthetics] | ||
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==Noise== | ==Noise== | ||
Wind turbine blades sweeping a vertical air space of 1.5 to 2 acres necessarily create noise as they thus remove energy from the wind to turn the generators. The gears and the generator also make noise as they turn. The characteristic pulsing noise of wind turbines is likely due the different air pressures at the top and bottom of the blades’ rotation area. The passing of each blade by the tower | Wind turbine blades sweeping a vertical air space of 1.5 to 2 acres (0.5–1 hectare) necessarily create noise as they thus remove energy from the wind to turn the generators. The gears and the generator also make noise as they turn. The characteristic pulsing noise of wind turbines is likely due to the different air pressures at the top and bottom of the blades’ rotation area. The passing of each blade by the tower likely also contributes. | ||
Furthermore, because the blades are mounted on towers hundreds of feet in height, the noise may be projected a great distance, particularly at night (owing to [[wikipedia:Inversion_(meteorology)|atmospheric inversion]] causing sound waves to bounce back down to earth) and particularly infrasound and low-frequency noise. The latter not only travel farther without attenuation, but also penetrate walls and windows and can even resonate with them.<ref>https://www.wind-watch.org/documents/acoustic-noise-associated-with-the-mod-1-wind-turbine-its-source-impact-and-control/</ref><ref>https://www.wind-watch.org/documents/methodology-for-assessment-of-wind-turbine-noise-generation/</ref> | Furthermore, because the blades are mounted on towers hundreds of feet in height, the noise may be projected a great distance, particularly at night (owing to [[wikipedia:Inversion_(meteorology)|atmospheric inversion]] causing sound waves to bounce back down to earth) and particularly infrasound and low-frequency noise. The latter not only travel farther without attenuation, but also penetrate walls and windows and can even resonate with them.<ref>https://www.wind-watch.org/documents/acoustic-noise-associated-with-the-mod-1-wind-turbine-its-source-impact-and-control/</ref><ref>https://www.wind-watch.org/documents/methodology-for-assessment-of-wind-turbine-noise-generation/</ref> | ||
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==Property values== | ==Property values== | ||
Although there is a shortage of desirable housing in most rural places and people often have to | Although there is a shortage of desirable housing in most rural places and people often have to make compromises in their choices, nobody, given the choice between two otherwise equally attractive properties, would choose to live near a giant wind turbine, let alone several of them. That unavoidably affects property values. | ||
:''See also:'' [https://www.wind-watch.org/documents/category/property-values/?titles=on Wind Watch documents concerning property values] | :''See also:'' [https://www.wind-watch.org/documents/category/property-values/?titles=on Wind Watch documents concerning property values] | ||