Wind Turbines: A Major New Noise Report

Just a quick post about a new peer reviewed study, published in a leading academic journal on the effects of wind turbine noise on nearby residents. It has been written by three leading academics. (including Dr Chris Hanning - arguably the worlds leading expert in sleep deprivation)

The study (quicklink) is Here

Full Citation:

Nissenbaum MA, Aramini JJ, Hanning CD. Effects of industrial wind turbine noise on sleep and health. Noise Health [serial online] 2012 [cited 2012 Nov 11];14:237-43. 
Available from: http://www.noiseandhealth.org/text.asp?2012/14/60/237/102961

Basically this study reinforces the the now well founded opinion that wind turbines should be no
nearer than 2Km to residential dwellings.

Needless to say, this report will be vigorously ignored and then denied by the money hungry wind turbine cartel and by their brown nosed apologist fashion loving followers. No doubt we will also hear the hysterical slurs and accusations against the researchers in due course. As has happened before.

Do you seriously think there is a difference between the wind cartel and the tobacco industry? Dream on. If there is one, it is as thick as a cigarette paper.

But at least there are signs that these greedy corporate monsters, who are imposing immense misery on an untold number of communities across our country are now meeting some resistance.

Wiltshire County Council has set a minimum setback distance of 2Km (3Km for large turbines).
(See Here). Good for them. Standing up for your community is exactly what local democracy should be all about. Wiltshire County councillors deserve out applause.

But most of all we should salute Dr Chris Hanning and his colleagues for having the courage to publish.

The opinions and scientific findings of Dr Chris Hanning, Dr Mike Nissenbaum and  Dr Jeff  Aramini should cause anyone with the slightest moral conscience to pause in of building these useless monsters anywhere near residential dwellings.

Will that happen?

Don't hold your breath.

Vestas V90 Turbine - Safety Instructions

OK. What is a Vestas V90?

No! My Dorset Dinlows.  It is not a box of 90 red matches

A Vestas V90 is a Wind Turbine.
A very large Wind Turbine.
Dimensionally similar to the ones earmarked for East Stoke in Dorset.

Now, for some reason, people have go the impression that Billothewisp dislikes wind turbines. Which is only partially true.

Billothewisp certainly has reservations about wind turbine cost/efficiency/effectiveness etc.

But what Billothewisp really hates, is gold digging anti-social carpet baggers building wind turbines too close to peoples homes.

So how close is too close?

Well,

• Dr Christopher Hanning  (UK world renowned sleep disturbance expert)  suggests 1.5 KM
• Académie Nationale de Médecine (French BMA) recommend 1.5KM ( translation here )
• Dr Nina Pierpont  (USA Consultant pediatrician) recommends 1 mile
• Dr Amanda Harry (UK  GP and E.N.T specialist) recommends 1.5 Km
• UK Noise Association  recommends 1 Mile

Incidentally these highly skilled medics and scientists did not arrive at these recommendations over a pint down the pub. They have each done considerable research into wind turbine distress before arriving at their conclusions.

But I digress.

Vestas, the manufacturer of the V90, is a Danish company. They come across as nice wholesome Danish people. You know the type, good bacon, nice yellow Gouda, and a fine line in fashionable clogs.

They are certainly not festering two headed monsters fresh from the Gates of Hades.

Unfortunately though, some of their customers probably are. Even if they appear to lack the two heads.

But, lets get back to the V90.

Being Danish, Vestas is thorough.

Vestas is concerned for the safety of the operators of their huge industrial machines. To be fair they are also concerned for the well being of nearby children (I kid you not).

Take this quote from one of their handbooks for the Vestas V90 ( Full copy available here )

So,in summary Vestas say that the operators of these turbines should stay 400m away from them, unless absolutely necessary. They say that children should be kept well away from them (I surmise they mean considerably more than 400 meters)

So someone please tell me why in Dorset we are potentially going to allow four of these monsters to be erected 275 meters from a scout camp and 800 meters from a residential home for people with ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder) and, as I understand it 350 meters from the homes of local residents.

I suppose as part of the local Dorset friendliness, the scouts and locals within the 400 meter exclusion zone, will be able to wave to the technicians as they leg it up the road after doing whatever they have to do first thing in the morning. Then from their place of safety the technicians can benignly look down on the peasants as they play in the danger zone.

Seriously, if Vestas reckon the technical staff should stay at least 400 meters away from these things, how the hell can Purbeck council, or the Operator say that it is "safe" for local residents to actually live in a area closer than this?

All answers please, to Billothewisp, Dorset.  On a £50 note marked ROC subsidy.

Wind developers: When NO means NO!

image from www.thisisscunthorpe.co.uk

A little lesson for the gold-diggers in the wind industry. This is quite simple and it is something any 2 year old should understand.

No means NO.

When the good people of Burton - upon- Stather in Lincolnshire objected to yet another industrial wind turbine complex being built near their village, the developers, greedy for their gold, tried to bull-doze it though - and failed. They got all bitter and twisted when told "NO" for the first time.
A bit like a spoilt 2 year old.
It ended up with a public enquiry.

Much to the chagrin of the Klondike cowboys, they lost the appeal.

Because the primary reason they lost was the  damaging health affects their useless monstrosity would have on two young boys suffering from autism, they had a bright idea.

As you can imagine, morality does not appear to figure too highly with these gold diggers.

They decided to "come to an arrangement" with the family of the autistic children. You and I can only guess at the pressure the parents of these kids would be under, simply from the day to day living. When "an arrangement" turns up it can probably be too difficult to resist.

So after making their "arrangement" these bastards are back with another appeal to build the bloody turbines again.

Even after a public enquiry!

But the local North Lincolnshire Council, threw it out. Again. (And good for them)

A quote from the ThisIsScunthorpe news report (Full Version HERE)

[quote]
Burton and Winterton ward councillor Bernard Regan told the meeting: "I am astonished we are even looking at this again, as we have proven twice that this is not a good thing for the community or for North Lincolnshire.

"It calls into question the whole issue of democracy where planning is concerned.
"The developer can come back time and time again and chip away at the objections, but there is no such redress on the part of the objectors."
[end quote]


Bloody right Bernard. I totally agree

These shysters have been told NO by the council and NO at a public enquiry and then NO again.

Why the hell are they even allowed to consider having another go?

What the hell happened to the democratic rights of the people objecting?

What happened to the concept that when something is voted down, appealed against and voted down again IT IS VOTED DOWN.

How long are we going to put up with these bastards riding rough shod over our democracy simply so they can make a fast buck?

At least the people of Burton-upon-Stather are setting a good example to us all.

Don't let the bastards grind you down.
Just say NO!

Predicting the wind - update

Just an early morning comment. This is the latest NETA data

Notice NETA almost got it right. But the wind arrived late, about settlement period 7 ( 3.30am) on the 23rd when nobody wants it. NETA had estimated that the wind would arrive during peak household demand period in the evening of the 22nd.

Luckily, the amount of power (even from new higher wind) is so inconsequential it would not have caused any issues. But if we had been relying on wind for 30% of our power there would have been mayhem.

Look at the graph.  When I say the "wind arrived" I actually mean the total metered wind turbine output rose from 2% of the much lauded turbine rating to a peak of 18.5%.

Just as an example. If this was the planned Alaska windfarm at East Stoke in the Purbecks which has a projected boiler plate rating of 9.2MW, the actual output would have risen from 0.184MW through to a peak of 1.7MW. That of course ignores the amount of power used internally to heat the turbine blades and gear box to stop them freezing.

Don't forget, these are nationally based statistics, and it has been like this (or worse) for days

East Stoke Wind Turbines, Dorset

If you drive from Weymouth towards Wareham you pass a pub called the Red Lion at Winfrith Newburgh. Just after passing the pub, keep a look out to your left. About a mile back from road you will see a square pale-blue building mostly hidden by trees. This inconspicious building, in need a a paint job, is the remains of Winfith Atomic Energy Establishment. This was a research reactor (or reactors as there was more than one). It was not designed primarily to provide electricity to the National Grid but still, it regularly and routinely provided 62MWe. It was shut down early few years ago essentially due to the unfashionability of nuclear power at the time.

Continue on your journey to East Stoke. You will pass a beautiful 19th century church on a corner. Just near here a large corporation is planning to build three huge wind-turbines. Each one would be higher than Salisbury Cathedral and would produce a derisory amount of power (just over 2MWe each, and thats at full stretch). In fact in order to provide anything like a reliable source of power you need three wind turbines scattered across the country to provide the continuous rating of one. Even then you do not get anything like a guarantee of continuity.

But lets be kind. East Stoke would essentially provide, in total, on average, 2MWe continuous. To say that these things would be more intrusive and less productive than the old Winfrith nuclear plant would be the understatement of the decade. To match the power output of Winfrith (which was a tiddler, remember) East Stoke would need no less than 30 turbines of a similar size all running at full tilt.

Don't forget though that this never happens. You would need another 60 wind turbines scattered across the country to try and provide a semblance of continuity.

But it gets worse. Wind turbines, like all rotating machinery break down and need to be repaired and serviced. But unlike steam generating plant, they operate in an uncontrollable and chaotically variable environment. Consequently they will break down and need to be serviced more often than equivalent steam generating plant. You will always have a significant number out of service (even if the wind is blowing). It is easy to see the total number of windturbines (each the height of Salisbury Cathedral) needed to replace the very small nuclear reactor at Winfrith would number at least 100 (maybe many more)

The abortion they plan to impose on the people of East Stoke would essentially provide approximately 3% of the power produced of the old redundant research reactor at Winfrith.

This is lunacy.


The above is only one of many the arguments against the mass employment of wind turbines generally and specifically at the little village of East Stoke. I will come to many, many, more in future posts.

Wind turbines do have their place. Remote communities far from the grid may well benefit. But seriously, to try and use them to provide a significant proportion of energy to the National Grid is absurd. The only people gaining are the power companies (nice subsidies eh?) and the the political zealots. The people of East Stoke will be left to go to hell. Not only that they will end up subsidising this madness in their electricity bills.

You can find out more information about various campaigns against these pitiful modern day follys here at DART (Dorset Against Rural Turbines).

I hasten to add that while I fully support DART I am not a member or otherwise associated with them and these are strictly my thoughts. (Although I may decide to join up soon!)