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AEI Wind Farm Noise Resources

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AEI Publications

Wind Farm Noise 2012: Science and policy overview
AEI's third annual overview of science and policy developments on wind farm noise issues. Includes sections on visits to wind farm communities, sound contour maps, community annoyance surveys, recently adopted siting standards, and the differences between average and peak sound levels. Three appendices reproduce reasearch summaries written earlier this year and published previously on AEInews.
[DOWNLOAD PDF]
[VIEW ON DOCSTOCK] [VIEW ON SLIDESHARE] [VIEW ON SRIBD]
AEI Wind Farm Noise 2012: Science and policy overview

Key AEI overviews of wind farm noise issues

NEWEEP 2010: Wind Farm Noise Public Perception and Annoyance. Presentation for the New England Wind Energy Education Project (part of the DOE-funded Wind Powering America program). Includes experiential accounts, summary of research, and introduction to noise sensitivity and place identity as possible contributors to the variation in response that is seen between individuals, and in different communities. July 2010 (and still a solid introduction). [NEWEEP PDF] [FULL WEBINAR ONLINE]

Int'l Wind Turbine Noise Conference 2013: The Variability Factor - A 22-slide powerpoint presentation (pdf version) and a more detailed 17-page paper address new research into the several key aspects of variability in wind turbine noise: source levels, sound quality, and averages/peaks; also, a look at how problematic sound occuring a small proportion of the time may plausibly be experienced as chronic by neighbors. August 2013. [WTN2013 PRESENTATION] [WTN2013 PAPER]

The possible role of turbulence, wake, and shear effects on community response to wind farm noise - Invited presentation delivered at Sandia National Lab and the National Renewable Energy Lab's National Wind Technology Center, May 2013. The version linked here includes a few slides edited out of the original presentation for length, and several slides from the REW-NA presentation listed below. [SANDIA/NREL PRESENTATION]

Renewable Energy World North America 2012: Addressing Wind Farm Noise Concerns - A 22-slide powerpoint presentation (pdf version) and a more detailed 16-page paper look at industry efforts to reduce wind farm noise, December 2012. [REW-NA PRESENTATION] [REW-NA PAPER]

Wind Farm Noise 2011 - Our 2nd annual overview of the issue, published June 2011. Fifty pages, primary focus is looking at how our familiar community noise standards are working with wind farm noise, with brief coverage of low-frequency noise, health, and property values.
[DOWNLOAD PDF]
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Other AEI reports and published articles

Looking for Wind Industry Leadership in Reducing Noise Impacts- An invited column published online by the trade magazine Renewable Energy World, February 2011.[REW COLUMN PDF] [READ ON REW WEBSITE]

Wind Farm Noise 2009 - AEI's earlier overview of the issue, published early 2010. Includes summaries of recent research. [AEI 2009 WIND REPORT]

Wind Farm Noise: Moderate but Real - Guest column published in a Michigan newspaper, in response to a similar piece from Duke Energy, May 2011. [MODERATE BUT REAL PDF]

Wind Farm Noise: Community Response Considerations - A 4-page summary prepared for the San Miguel County Commission, December 2010. [SAN MIGUEL PDF]

Wind and Wildlife poster - A poster prepared for the National Wind Coordinating Committee's 8th Wind and Wildlife workshop, October 2010. Focuses on the management implications of variability in noise sensitivity within wildlife populations. [NWCC POSTER]

These two extended lay summaries of 2011 research were published on the AEInews blog/feed in early 2012; they also appear as Appendices to the AEI Wind Farm Noise 2012 annual report (see above)
Recent Research on Wind Farm Noise and Health [DOWNLOAD PDF]
Low Frequency Noise and Infrasound [DOWNLOAD PDF]


Publications from others, cited in AEI reports

The following collection of reports, academic papers, powerpoint presentations, and letters submitted to regulatory authorities is provided to facilitate further study. AEI does not endorse the contents of any of the following, though we do consider them all to add useful perspective on these issues. Very few of these documents are "peer-reviewed science," as the extent of published material on these topics is scant. Some of the citations are from industry sources or reports commissioned by industry and written by independent scientists or acousticians; others are from submissions in support of more cautionary wind farm siting standards. In particular, the lack of peer review can mean that some studies may have what would be seen as flaws in design that may overlook other contributing factors; property value and health studies are often likely to encounter such confounding factors. For more context about the contents of any of these reports, search within AEI's Wind Farm Noise 2011 report.

If any authors of the papers below have copyright or other issues, and would like your paper(s) removed from the list, just let me know at the email address at the top of the page.

Wind Farm Noise Modeling/Measurement and Community Noise Standards

Ambrose et al, Internoise 2012 LF and infrasound measurements [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
AWEA (American Wind Energy Assoc) Siting Handbook [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Bastasch et al Wind Turbine Noise-An Overview [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Clayton-Horse Creek Noise Assessment [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Hessler, Recommended Turbine Noise Design Goals, NCE 2011 [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Hessler, Best Practices Guidelines, sound assessment, NARUC 2011 [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Hessler, Buckeye I noise analysis, 2009 [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Hessler, Buckeye II noise analysis 2012 [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Horonjeff, Siting and noise, nature of noise [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
James, How we got here: the wind industry approach to noise regulation [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Kalisky, Allegheny Ridge Wind Farm noise monitoring study [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Kalisky, Annualized wind farm sound levels [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Kalisky, NEWEEP presentation 2010: Wind turbine noise regulation [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Kamperman/James, How-to guide to wind farm siting [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Kamperman/James, Siting guidelines summary [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
State of Maine, Progress toward goals, including noise regulation [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Rand, Noise regulation presentation to Riga, MI [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Rand, Noise regulation written submission to Riga, MI [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Schomer, On normalizing DNL, Sound and Vibration 2002 [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Schomer, Assessment of Hessler Cape Vincent sound study [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Schomer, Hammond NY 2010 wind ordinance [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Schomer, Hammond NY 2010 wind ordinance enforcement [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Swinbanks, Letter to Michigan PSC re: noise regulation [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Thorne, Assessing noise from wind farms [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Thorne, Problems with noise numbers [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Thorne, Thesis: Assessing Intrusive Noise and Low-Amplitude Sound [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Thorne, Moorabool wind farm noise submission [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
van den Berg, Low frequency noise and vibration and its control: [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]

Sound Contour Maps
Canton Mountain Wind (ME) [VIEW/DOWNLOAD JPG]
Hardscrabble Wind Farm (NY) [VIEW/DOWNLOAD JPG]
Horse Creek Wind Farm (NY) [VIEW/DOWNLOAD JPG]
Blue Creek Wind Farm (OH) [VIEW/DOWNLOAD JPG]

Community surveys
Australia: TRUenergy 2011 [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Australia: Wang 2011 [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Australia: Morris 2011 [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Massachusetts: Craggy Ridge (Falmouth) 2012 [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
New York: Schneider 2010 [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Wisconsin: Johnsburg 2009 [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Wisconsin: Lincoln Township 2001 [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Scandinavia: Pedersen et al 2000-7 summary in AEI NEWEEP presentation [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]

Health

AEI has covered the various institutional health reports as they have come out; for more detail on the strengths as well as the missing pieces in these reports, see the following links (each post includes a link to download that report in full):
CanWEA/AWEA report: http://aeinews.org/archives/584
Ontario report: http://aeinews.org/archives/915 and http://aeinews.org/archives/937

Oregon Health Impact Assessment report: http://aeinews.org/archives/1750
Massachusetts report: http://aeinews.org/archives/1782

Two earlier studies provide more comprehensive assessments of possible health effects near wind farms:
State of Minnesota Department of Health: http://aeinews.org/archives/456
World Health Organization night time noise: http://aeinews.org/archives/429

Hanning, Wind turbine noise sleep and health [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
McFadden, Wind turbines: a brief health overview [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Shepherd, Psychoacoustics and wind farms, Mill Creek submission [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]

Abrose and Rand, Bruce McPherson Study 2011 [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Krough, Health presentation 2011-10-19 [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Nissenbaum et al, ICBEN2011, Adverse Health Effects [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
(ICBEN paper above is pre-publication conference version of published version, below)
Nissenbaum et al, Noise & Health 2012, Effects on sleep and health [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Intrinsik/CanWEA review/critique of Nissenbaum et al Noise & Health paper [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Phillips, BSTS 2011, Properly interpreting epidemiological evidence [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Pierpont, Hammond NY statement [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Pierpont, 2006 Review of Ellenberg NY DEIS [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Shepherd, Ontario ERT statement 2011 [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Shepherd, Noise and Health 2011, Quality of Life survey [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Thorne, Wind Farm Guidelines 2011 [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
van den Berg, WTN2011, Health overview [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Wang, Evaluation of Wind Farm Noise Policies in South Australia, 2011 [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]

Property Values

Hinman, Wind farm proximity and property values [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Hoen, Wiser et al, LBNL study on wind power and property values [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Hoen, NEWEEP presentation: Impacts on residential property values [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Kielisch, Wind turbines and property value [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Luxemburger, Living with the impact of windmills [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
McCann, Property value impact and zoning evaluation, CVEC [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Poletti, Property value guarantees in Illinois [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Royal Institute of Certified Surveyors, UK property values survey [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]
Schneider, interview on property value guarantee [VIEW/DOWNLOAD PDF]


 AEI Key Collaborative and Outreach Activities, 2004-14

  • January 2004: Greenpeace USA released “Sonic Impacts,” a comprehensive report on the environmental effects of seismic surveys at sea; distributed to delegates at the UN Law of the Sea annual meeting.  This report was written under contract by AEI and became a primary source for environmental groups worldwide. [MORE]
  • April 2004: Co-founded the American Society for Acoustic Ecology, the long-anticipated US affiliate of the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology. AEI founder Jim Cummings elected first President of ASAE. [MORE]
  • February-May 2004: Presented “Ears Wide Open” as part of Santa Fe public schools’ Partners in Education; 28 one-hour programs for classes and enrichment groups in grades 1 through 6.
  • November 2004: Organized and moderated a panel on Ocean Noise at the 8th International Wildlife Law Conference (New Orleans, LA); participants included the Director of the Marine Mammal Commission, the head of Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory marine science program, an NRDC lawyer, and an acoustician.
  • February 2005: Collaborated with Western Soundscape Project (Boise, ID) to develop planning grant proposal for a library and museum-based western soundscape archive
  • April 2005: Panelist at New Mexico Heritage Preservation Alliance conference, introduced Treasured Soundscapes of New Mexico.
  • October 2004-May 2005: Organized an eight-event Acoustic Ecology lecture series, held at the College of Santa Fe. [MORE]
  • May 2006: Presented a paper and sound installation at Sound, Environment, and Connective Technologies conference, University of California Riverside.
  • June 2006: Featured speaker at Nature Sounds Society annual field weekend, Yuba Pass, California.
  • May 2007: Invited plenary speaker at the Alberta Energy Utilities Board biannual noise control conference.
  • Summer and fall 2007:  Guest-edited a special edition of the Journal of International Wildlife Law and Policy on the topic of ocean noise; pubication date, published as two issues.
  • December 2007: Co-edited the 2007 volume of Soundscape, the journal of the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology; issue theme: Soundscape Art, Science, and Environmental Activism.
  • August 2008: Attended the Second International Conference on Acoustic Communication by Animals, presented talk on Science, Policy, and the Emerging Ethics of Ocean Noise.
  • May 2009: Invited by the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans to be a member of an expert panel convened to assess the effectiveness of Canadian mitigation practices addressing the noise impacts of seismic surveys on marine animals. [SEE POST]
  • May 2009: Invited plenary speaker at the Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board biannual noise control conference. [SEE SUMMARY]
  • March 2010: Invited to submit an article to Renewable Energy World on wind farm noise concerns. [READ ARTICLE]
  • April 2010: Participated in the Ocean Observatories Initiative science community workshop, Tempe, Arizona.
  • May 2010: Plenary presentation at the 2nd International Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life conference, Cork, Ireland. [SEE PRESENTATION]
  • July 2010: Invited presenter in the DOE-funded New England Wind Energy Education Project webinar on wind farm noise issues. [SEE PRESENTATION]
  • August 2010: Interviewed as part of a Renewable Energy World podcast on wind energy noise issues, seven minutes of airtime. [READ ARTICLE/LISTEN TO PODCAST]
  • September 2010: Cited in a New York Times cover story on wind energy noise issues [SEE ARTICLE]; letter to the editor published the following week (online) [SEE LETTER].
  • October 2010: Poster presentation at the National Wind Coordinating Committee Wind and Wildlife meeting, Denver, Colorado.
  • December 2010: Expert witness at a San Miguel County special hearing on their wind farm noise ordinance, Las Vegas, NM.
  • February 2011: Invited to submit a piece to Renewable Energy World on the need for more flexibilty in setting community noise limits in different types of communties.
  • June 2011: Invited to be a panelist at the DOE-sponsored New England Wind Energy Education Project conference (could not attend due to scheduling).
  • February 2012: Attended AWEA Siting Seminar, Las Vegas, NV
  • March 2012: Attended BOEM workshop, effects of noise on fish and crustaceans, San Diego, CA
  • April 2012: Served on Renewable Energy World North America 2012 wind program subcommitee, Orlando, FL
  • May 2012: Invited participant at NOAA meeting gathering stakeholder input on their new ocean noise mapping and cetacean distribution mapping programs
  • May 2012: Invited participant at Joint Industry Project workshop on oil and gas industry research into effects of noise on ocean life
  • December 2012: Presentation at Renewable Energy World North America, "Addressing Wind Farm Noise Concerns"
  • May 2013: Invited presenter to wind turbine research teams at Sandia National Laboratory, Albuquerque, NM, and the National Renewable Energy Lab's National Wind Technology Center, Golden, CO
  • August 2013: Presenter at the International Wind Turbine Noise conference, Denver, CO
  • January 2014: Invited participant, US DOE A2e Initiative Aeroacoustics Strategy Meeting, Arlington, VA
  • December 2014: Poster presentation at National Wind Coordinating Committee Wind and Wildlife meeting, Denver, CO

Partnerships and Collaborations

AEI is engaged in ongoing dialogue and exchange of expertise with many other organizations, including NOAA/NMFS, National Park Service Natural Sounds Program, National Forest Service planners, Marine Mammal Commission, Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans, NRDC, Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of Energy, Chamber of Shipping of America, the US Navy, the Department of Energy, MassCEC, and researchers at academic institutions worldwide.

 

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