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The Truth About Wind Energy

=C2=AB Blades=20 a draw for bats, birds

Noise Reports

Published May 4th, 2007 in Local=20 Headlines.

Some T.I. residents will be saying goodbye to those quiet summer=20 evenings. There are now two wind turbine noise reports submitted = by=20 developers along the Thousand Islands corridor. One by AES-Acciona = Energy=20 concludes their project in Cape Vincent would not =E2=80=9Ccreate a = significant noise=20 impact.=E2=80=9D PPM Atlantic Renewable, on the other hand, freely = admits to Town=20 of Clayton residents that their project =E2=80=9Cwould be clearly = audible.=E2=80=9D In=20 both cases, developers ignored the biggest potential noise threat from = wind farm=20 development - atmospheric stability.

First, we have to better understand wind and noise. When the = wind=20 blows, trees and shrubbery produce a lot of noise, enough to mask = quieter=20 sounds. When the wind subsides, other quiet sounds, like the sound = of a=20 cricket, can become more noticeable. This relates to wind turbine = noise,=20 too. Turbines are loudest when the wind is blowing hard. As = wind=20 subsides, turbines slow down making less noise. When the wind = quits,=20 turbines stop as well. However, there is a condition when turbines = can=20 still be noisy even after the wind stops blowing.

During clear, cloudless nights a process called radiation cooling = takes place=20 whereby the atmosphere next to the ground becomes stable - it decouples = from the=20 air mass just above the ground. What is significant about this = decoupling=20 is that there can be no wind at ground level, but the wind can be = blowing quite=20 hard at the height of a wind turbine. Here then is the worst-case = scenario=20 developers should be considering, turbines spinning loudly with no = masking=20 sounds close to the ground. Even worse, it can occur on summer = nights with=20 our bedroom windows wide open.

So, how frequent is atmospheric stability and how loud can the = turbines=20 get? From my review of Queens University survey, nearly forty = percent of=20 spring and summer nights could be associated with atmospheric = stability. =20 Therefore, atmospheric stability is notan infrequent = occurance. =20 In ground-breaking studies at a German wind park on the Dutch border, = the Dutch=20 physicist Dr G.P. van der Berg showed that =E2=80=9Cwind turbine noise = could be up to=20 15-18 dBA higher than expected.=E2=80=9D NYSDEC guidelines = indicate that an=20 increase of 15-20 dBA is =E2=80=9Cobjectionable.=E2=80=9D

In conclusion, we have the potential for a real problem. = Participating=20 landowners and local officials don=E2=80=99t know about this problem, = but should. =20 Developers know about the problem, but don=E2=80=99t want to deal with = it. In any=20 case, we should all discuss it before we make an unalterable decision = that we=20 might later regret, and if you don=E2=80=99t believe it can happen = here, just visit=20 Maple Ridge and talk to someone.

Thousand Islands Sun, Letters to the Editor, Clif = Schneider

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