Wind Farms – the low down on noise?
Whilst we know that wind energy is a cost effective clean green energy resource all we hear about wind farms lately seems to be about noise and health. But the health scare that’s being spun in NSW is not supported by those states where windfarms are up and spinning benefits for local communities. Latest reports suggest that the wind farm opponents are generating more harmful noise than the windmills themselves.
The Victorian Department of Health has decided to ‘go on the record’ and have published reports stating that concerns about low frequency noise from turbines causing health concerns are baseless. It concludes,
“there is overwhelming evidence that infrasound from wind farms is at levels which are too low to be audible, and no higher than background levels in the environment.”
Here’s what the report says about the impacts of infrasound:
Can inaudible sound affect health?
“The evidence indicates that sound can only affect health at sound levels that are loud enough to be easily audible. This means that if you cannot hear a sound, there is no known way that it can affect health. This is true regardless of the frequency of the sound.”
Annoyance
“Annoyance is a recognised health effect of noise, and can contribute to other health effects, such as sleep disturbance.
A low level of audible noise is not a problem for most people. However, people may develop a negative (annoyance) reaction to noise, depending on how the noise is perceived. As described above, this is influenced by the noise itself, as well as the individual’s response to the noise.
The individual’s response to a noise can contribute more to annoyance and related health effects than the level or characteristics of the noise itself.”
The National Health and Medical Research Council is also investigating anti-wind farm campaigner Sarah Laurie for serious ethical issues including posing as a registered medical practitioner to undertake research; activites she conducted in her efforts to distort the debate over the appropriateness of wind farm technology.
The Central West continues to wait for the NSW Government to finalise its long and slow deliberations over wind farm developments worth tens of millions of dollars to local economies. Wind energy can help this region turn away from the dangerous pollution being generated by coal fired electricity which is in fact harming the communities living in reach of their fallout as well as contributing to global climate change.
The Central NSW Renewable Energy Cooperative has formed to give the local community a unique opportunity to purchase their own 3MW turbine in the Flyers Creek Wind Farm between Orange and Blayney. To find out more about becoming an investor go to http://www.cenrec.com.au or visit Central NSW Renewable Energy Cooperative on Facebook for more information on wind energy and a link to the Victorian Government’s health report.
Central NSW Renewable Energy Cooperative