Category: wind farms & noise

Anti-wind farm campaigning, Infrasound, Nocebo, Wind Energy Mythbusting, wind farm panic, wind farms & health, wind farms & noiseLeave a comment

Wind turbines don’t make you feel sick or healthy, but spin can

Leigh Ewbank

Published by The Conversation. View the original article.

zygkx48c-1385598907By Fiona Crichton, PhD candidate in psychological medicine at University of Auckland.

Despite at least 19 reviews of the scientific evidence universally concluding that exposure to wind farm sound doesn’t trigger adverse health effects, people continue to report feeling unwell because they live near wind turbines.

We’ve known for some time that exposure to negative messages about wind farms makes people more likely to report feeling sick after exposure to turbines. And new research, published by my colleagues and I this week in the journal Health Psychology, shows positive messages about wind farms may have the opposite effect – improve perceptions of health. Continue reading “Wind turbines don’t make you feel sick or healthy, but spin can”

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Turbine tourism: Bus tours of a wind-energy park are a big hit

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Published by Grist. View original article. Michigan now has nearly 900 wind turbines, and that lit a lightbulb in the entrepreneurial mind of retired teacher Gene Jorissen. Last summer, he started leading hour-long bus tours of the turbine-dotted Lakes Winds … Continue reading Turbine tourism: Bus tours of a wind-energy park are a big hit

Anti-wind farm campaigning, community support for windfarms, energy transition, health impacts, Regional Development, victoria, Waubra wind farm, Wind Farm Benefits, Wind farmers, wind farms, wind farms & health, wind farms & noiseLeave a comment

Waubra Wednesday #7 – Locals tell their story about wind energy

Leigh Ewbank

In September, independent filmmaker Neil Barrett released a short documentary presenting the views of people living near one of Australia’s largest wind farms, located in Waubra, Victoria. The personal accounts Mr Barrett documents in The Way the Wind Blows demonstrates there is strong support … Continue reading Waubra Wednesday #7 – Locals tell their story about wind energy

Anti-wind farm campaigning, health impacts, Regional Development, victoria, Waubra Foundation, Waubra wind farm, Wind Energy Mythbusting, Wind Farm Benefits, Wind farmers, wind farms, wind farms & agriculture, wind farms & health, wind farms & noise, wind farms & property valueLeave a comment

Waubra Wednesday #6 – Locals tell their story about wind energy

Leigh Ewbank

WIND1_STORY_-_DEEP_HORIZONTAL_WIDE_F11671310_989459In September, independent filmmaker Neil Barrett released a short documentary presenting the views of people living near one of Australia’s largest wind farms, located in Waubra, Victoria.

The personal accounts Mr Barrett documents in The Way the Wind Blows demonstrates there is strong support for the wind farm within the Waubra community. The personal accounts tell a positive story and challenge the myths that have emerged about wind energy.

David Clarke is a councillor and Landcare volunteer who neighbours the Waubra wind farm. “We need to do something about our carbon footprint,” said Councillor Clake, “and to me [the wind farm] is a very logical thing to do.”

Clarke is right on this measure: The Waubra wind farm produces enough clean electricity for 143,000 households, more than enough to power Ballarat. The farm’s 128 wind turbines offset a massive 635,000 tonnes of carbon emissions each year which would have been generated by burning coal in the LaTrobe Valley.  Continue reading “Waubra Wednesday #6 – Locals tell their story about wind energy”

Anti-wind farm campaigning, community support for windfarms, health impacts, Hepburn community wind farm, Infrasound, renewable energy, victoria, Waubra Foundation, Waubra wind farm, Wind Energy Mythbusting, Wind Farm Benefits, wind farm panic, Wind farmers, wind farms & health, wind farms & noiseLeave a comment

Waubra Wednesday #5 – The Stupefaction Gambit: “Community Acceptance Will Fuel Community Division”

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Published by Etwas Luft. View original article. By Ketan Joshi, Research and Communications Officer at Infigen Energy. These views are his own.

Picture this: A man sits nervously in the witness stand, his hands bound by cuffs, his every move watched closely by a jury. A lawyer slowly steps up to him, and says:

“Sir, the evidence is irrefutable. You murdered Mr Wales, in cold blood”.

The accused smiles at the corner of his mouth.

“Hear this, my good man: you are wrong. It is Mr Wales who murdered me, and I shall avenge his crimes, mark my words!”

I call it the Stupefaction Gambit. If you stand accused of some wrongdoing, steel yourself, swallow your self-awareness, point at your accuser and accuse them of that same folly. In the ensuing chaos, the irrationality of your claim sneaks quietly past the other parties.

Recently, Neil Barrett, a film-maker from Victoria with an interest in renewable energy and a small share in the Hepburn community wind farm (also in Victoria) released a set of videos (condensed version below) interviewing residents near the Waubra Wind Farm.   Continue reading “Waubra Wednesday #5 – The Stupefaction Gambit: “Community Acceptance Will Fuel Community Division””

community support for windfarms, Waubra Foundation, Waubra wind farm, Wind Energy Mythbusting, Wind Farm Benefits, wind farms, wind farms & health, wind farms & noise, wind farms & property valueLeave a comment

Waubra Wednesday #4 – Locals tell their story about wind energy

Leigh Ewbank

In September, independent filmmaker Neil Barrett released a short documentary presenting the views of people living near one of Australia’s largest wind farms, located in Waubra, Victoria. The personal accounts Mr Barrett documents in The Way the Wind Blows demonstrates there is strong support … Continue reading Waubra Wednesday #4 – Locals tell their story about wind energy

renewable energy, Renewable technologies, Waubra wind farm, Wind Energy Mythbusting, Wind Farm Benefits, wind farm panic, Wind farmers, wind farms, wind farms & agriculture, wind farms & health, wind farms & noise38 Comments

What will it take for facts to overcome fear about wind turbines?

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Published by Environmental Law & Litigation. View original article by Dianne Saxe. People who actually live with and host wind turbines on their properties are rarely heard in the emotional debate on wind farms and health. Australian filmmaker and researcher Neil … Continue reading What will it take for facts to overcome fear about wind turbines?

Anti-wind farm campaigning, community support for windfarms, Regional Development, Waubra Foundation, Waubra wind farm, Wind Energy Mythbusting, Wind Farm Benefits, wind farm panic, Wind farmers, wind farms & agriculture, wind farms & health, wind farms & noise, wind farms & property valueLeave a comment

Waubra Wednesday #3 – Locals tell their story about wind energy

Leigh Ewbank

In September, independent filmmaker Neil Barrett released a short documentary presenting the views of people living near one of Australia’s largest wind farms, located in Waubra, Victoria. The personal accounts Mr Barrett documents in The Way the Wind Blows demonstrates there is strong support … Continue reading Waubra Wednesday #3 – Locals tell their story about wind energy

Australian Energy Market Operator, Cherry Tree Range wind farm, health impacts, Infrasound, renewable energy, VCAT, victoria, Wind Energy Mythbusting, wind farm 'no go' zones, wind farm panic, wind farms & health, wind farms & noise1 Comment

Wind farms: What we can’t hear, can’t harm

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Published by Renew Economy. View original article.

wind-farm-sunset

In a new analysis, the Australian Energy Market Operator estimates Victoria will have 4,090 MW of new wind energy capacity installed by 2020. Those who support more renewables in the energy mix will welcome the forecast, yet it may be optimistic.

Today (Friday September 27), the Victorian Civil Administration Tribunal (VCAT) will resume the decision making process on the Cherry Tree Range wind farm proposed for central Victoria. Despite meeting the world’s strictest wind farm planning laws and laying outside the multitude of no-go zones imposed by the Baillieu government, the project could be thwarted. By what? The self interest and pseudo-science trumpeted by anti-wind farm groups.

The fate of the Cherry Tree Range wind farm is a test case for wind energy in Victoria. If it’s approved then there’s hope Victoria will achieve the high-penetration of wind energy AEMO predict by the end of the decade.

VCAT adjourned with an interim determination in April, finding the permit application was in accordance with all the planning considerations that the Mitchell Shire had contested. However the Tribunal decided it would await the outcome of an EPA SA study into alleged noise complaints at Waterloo wind farm, and also a new review by the National Health and Medical Research Council.

VCAT left us to ponder the question: whether there is a causal link between sound pressure emissions from wind turbines and adverse health effects of a physiological nature. Continue reading “Wind farms: What we can’t hear, can’t harm”

health impacts, Infrasound, renewable energy, Wind Energy Mythbusting, wind farm panic, wind farms, wind farms & health, wind farms & noiseLeave a comment

Wind turbines are quieter than a heartbeat, acoustical experts find

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Published by Climate Progress by Ryan Koronowski. View original article.

article-2274483-17630517000005DC-645_468x353One complaint voiced by wind turbine opponents is that the turbines create too much noise — even noise below the range of human hearing, known as infrasound. These concerns fuel claims about “Wind Turbine Syndrome,” which advocates say is a medical condition that involves mental health problems, heart disease, and vertigo.

A study by an acoustic engineering group in Australia found that that infrasound generated by wind turbines is less loud than the infrasound created by a listener’s own heartbeat. It found that wind turbine infrasound does increase as wind speed increases, but this is often masked by the natural noise of wind moving through the area. Continue reading “Wind turbines are quieter than a heartbeat, acoustical experts find”