Noise created by commercial-scale wind turbines has become a major concern around the world as wind power development continues to proliferate. Although the industry claims that modern turbines are quieter -- even as they grow ever larger -- complaints are increasing from people who live near new projects.

While the wind itself may mask some of the noise under some atmospheric conditions, the deep unnatural thumping as the giant blades pass their supporting tower is particularly intrusive. Testimony from hundreds of turbine neighbors confirms this, most recently from Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Wisconsin, Texas, Canada, the U.K., and New Zealand. Reports can be found at www.wind-watch.org/news and www.wind-watch.org/documents.

He/she/it has been logging in from a cable company in central New York most of the time. Recently, however, I've started to wonder how such a person can have *so* much time to devote to pro-wind and why s/he is so vehement in arguments. So I went through the logs and found this gem:

Type user
Date Friday, February 2, 2007 - 2:29pm
User visitor
Message Session opened for visitor.

Editor,

I am writing in response to a letter from Roger Thurber in the February 19th edition of the Daily News. Among his praises for electric power, he refers to electricity as "the cheapest hired hand" that he could hire on the farm. Let's examine the wind power he favors so much in just those terms - as an employee, or "hired hand", of the electrical grid.

Wind power is intermittent, so this hired hand would show up, and leave, at any given time. This would happen so often that you really couldn't rely on this hired hand to get the job done. Consequently, you would have to keep other hands working at the same time (reliable, reserve power plants). In fact, if you tried to look up references on this hired hand, you wouldn't be able to find any proof that he had done any work at all, despite the great estimates he had given you on the amount of work he 'might' do.

Rowe, MA -- Wind power will not help in the fight against global warming, says National Wind Watch, a coalition of individuals and grass-roots groups from around the country. Although many environmentalists look favorably towards large-scale wind power, it has proven to be ineffective and counterproductive.

Wind generated only 0.36 percent of the total electricity produced in the U.S. in 2005, according to the 2007 "Annual Energy Outlook" from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. They project that wind's share will be only 0.89 percent in 2030. A determined push could increase that number, but with many undesirable consequences for the environment, wildlife, and human health -- as documented on the National Wind Watch web site: www.wind-watch.org.

This is a story about two men who forged a friendship at a nuclear power plant protest and then went on to collaborate on several sustainable energy projects, including three of the best known modern hydro projects in Vermont, over a 30-year period.

Recently, the two separately embarked on wind projects in New York and Vermont. The fate of these projects couldn't be more different: The New York wind turbines will be built this summer, while the East Haven Wind Farm in the Northeast Kingdom is effectively dead.

Kenneth D. Visser, associate professor of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering at Clarkson University, likes to work with air. From teaching undergraduate aircraft design and developing devices to reduce drag and increase fuel efficiency on tractor trailers, to helping bring about a new generation of small wind turbines, he applies his understanding of the intricacies of air motion to modern day problems.

Tug Hill (Lewis County)
New York, USA

(rated at 240MW, about 160 1.5MW turbines)

— data collected and graphed by
Richard Bolton, President
Environmental Compliance Alliance
Rushville, NY
BOLTON@hws.edu
January 7, 2007

Energy producers are not required to file actual energy production figures for their plant, but are required to file hourly financial transaction information with FERC ["The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is an independent regulatory agency within the Department of Energy that, among other energy-related tasks, licenses and inspects private, municipal and state hydroelectric projects."].

I am pleased to see that the LINY network has just passed the mark of 50 registered users. Since the average user-to-reader ration is 1:100, that puts us at about 5,000 readers. I am delighted!

I hope you're finding some good facts and interesting discussion re:wind power generation. If you're lurking here, feel free to sign up for an account so that you can subscribe to a thread or topic and be sent an email whenever an update is posted. While you may occasionally get an email from the leader of any group you subscribe to, I promise you will get no spam.