Wind farms vs. neighbors - Solar, Wind and Land: Conflicts in Renewable Energy Development - page 27

construction work during waking hours and to provide advance warning
to landowners who are most likely to be affected can help to prevent
temporary construction noise from unnecessarily slowing progress on a
wind energy project.
The other primary source of sound disturbance from wind energy devel-
opment is the audible noise that turbines produce while in operation. Sound
is generally described through two primary measures: loudness and pitch.
The loudness of sound is typically measured in decibels (dB), while the pitch
or frequency of sound is measured in Hertz (Hz). 42 Audible turbine noise
is often measured in “A-weighted” decibels (dBA), which “de-emphasiz[e]
the very low and very high frequency components of the sound in a manner
similar to the frequency response of the human ear.” 43 Sounds registering
only 10 dBA are barely audible to human ears, and sounds exceeding 130
dBA are noticeably painful. 44
At a distance of 300 meters from the base of a commercial wind
turbine—a typical minimal setback distance for utility-scale wind turbines
from businesses or homes—turbines generate a noise level of only about
43 decibels . 45 That level of noise is only slightly louder than the sound of
a running refrigerator and is quieter than the sound of a mid-size window
air-conditioning unit.
Although wind turbine noise is generally modest in comparison to many
other common sources of ambient noise, it can be a source of significant
disturbance in some contexts. Unlike construction noise, which is inherently
intermittent and may only last for a few weeks or months, turbine noise
is incessant. The setting where the noise occurs can also be an important
factor, as sounds of any type are more likely to draw opposition in the
sorts of rural communities where wind farms tend to be sited. Many urban
dwellers have become desensitized to ambient noise levels of 40 decibels or
more because such levels are common in bustling cities and are detectible
at almost any hour of the day. In contrast, rural landowners are often more
accustomed to quiet surroundings and may thus be more apt to take issue
with the low hum or pulse of wind turbines.
Disputes over turbine noise
As commercial wind energy development has rapidly expanded over the
past decade, disputes over wind turbine noise have begun surfacing across
the globe . 46 In 2010, a French court ordered that eight commercial wind
turbines be shut down during sleeping hours to address noise concerns . 47
Hundreds of complaints about wind turbine noise have been made in Great
Britain in recent years, and some such complaints have led wind farm
operators to shut down turbines whenever winds reached a certain speed. 48
And noise-based wind farm opposition has been a persistent obstacle for
developers in the United States, where landowners have bemoaned wind
turbine noise in several different states . 49