By Greg Walcher
Friday, June 3, 2016

Wind energy continues to be controversial, which seems surprising. Most people rightly think of the wind as not only renewable, but free. However, the technology needed to turn that free and renewable resource into usable electricity is not free, and we continually learn more about its unintended impacts.

For 30 years energy companies, utilities, government researchers, and academics have been studying the harm wind turbines can do to birds, and working hard to develop different machines that will not kill so many. The first megawatt wind turbines (on California’s Altamont Pass) were fast-spinning propellers that many environmentalists nicknamed “Raptor-matics,” and “Condor Cuisinarts.” More modern turbines are much larger and turn much slower, generating power without looking like airplane props. Yet despite design improvements, wind generators still kill thousands of birds every year, including eagles and endangered migratory birds.

Renewable energy advocates for some time thought solar energy might be a preferable alternative to wind, since it does not require moving parts. Then it turned out that the giant solar towers built in the Mojave Desert, surrounded by an array of mirrors, actually kill birds, too. Several months ago in this space I wrote about how the light from those installations attract millions of bugs that attract birds, which can literally be fried in midair — in much the same way that young boys fry ants with a magnifying glass. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is actively investigating the problem, so such solar installations may not become the preferred alternative to wind after all.

The deaths of thousands of birds was one reason energy companies began developing off-shore wind farms, often miles away from land. But it turns out that offshore wind farms may also cause collateral damage, in a big way. Conservation groups are now discovering that these giant wind machines may have a devastating effect on marine mammals, especially whales.

These are not your grandfather’s windmills, but huge 8-megawatt turbines that rise 650 feet above the water, with rotating blades more than 500 feet in diameter. Such gigantic rotors create pulsating sounds well known to anyone who lives near them on land. They can attract bats as far as nine miles offshore, and the noise travels through the water, as well as the air.

Near the world’s largest concentration of offshore wind farms (in the North Sea and English Channel), researchers have documented dozens of beached whales — and are reaching alarming conclusions about the relationship between whale deaths and wind farms. They cite ample evidence that noise from the machines interferes with whale communication and navigation, sometimes with deadly results. In one month, 29 otherwise healthy sperm whales (an endangered species) were stranded and died on English, German and Dutch beaches.

READ MORE:  http://www.gjsentinel.com/opinion/articles/whale-of-an-unintended-consequence#.V1LXS7yxx04.facebook

What to do when the grade 7 science project is to “Build a Wind Turbine”

Courtesy of:  Esther Wrightman

May 27, 2016  The Times

Promising investigation into health impacts of industrial wind turbines halted after Medical Officer of Health was dismissed

Huron County hugs the shoreline of Lake Huron between Amberley and Grand Bend. At its centre is Goderich. The county reaches inland across mostly flat farmland about 75 kilometres. It is home to about 270 industrial wind turbines. Twice that many are planned.

As more turbines go up, more people complain the machines are affecting their health and the wellbeing of their children.

As the complaints piled up Huron County’s Medical Officer of Health (MOH) Dr. Janice Owen felt she had a duty to investigate. She had been appointed just a year earlier after considerable turmoil amid the governance and administration of that county’s Board of Health. That turmoil had ultimately led to the dismissal of Dr. Owen’s predecessor, Dr. Nancy Cameron.

Dr. Owen knew she was embarking on rough political waters when she began to propose a health investigation into complaints that industrial wind turbines were making some people sick. Several of the municipalities and councils share in the revenue from these projects. Furthermore, the Board of Health is composed exclusively of sitting council members and one former councillor.

So Dr. Owen was careful. She proceeded slowly—explaining every step to the board along the way. She told them that she was proposing an investigation—not a research study. It would look at complaints and determine if there was a public health issue. It would not look at causality. She explained that it was her legislatively-defined duty in response to the volume of complaints.

In February, Dr. Owen outlined her proposed investigation to the Board of Health. In March, she explained to the board the structure of the investigation before a crowded meeting. About 80 residents filled the 45 seats in the chamber and spilled outside.

In April, Dr. Owen was fired.

Tyler Hessel is chair of the Huron County Board of Health. He is also Mayor of Bluewater, one of the lowertier municipalities that form Huron County.

He confirmed to the London Free Press that the Huron County Board of Health and Dr. Owen had parted ways, “but everything is going to continue moving forward as usual,” he said.

Hessel said that Owen’s departure was unrelated to the wind farm issue and that work would be carried on by health unit staff according to the London Free Press account.

That was five weeks ago.

READ MORE: http://wellingtontimes.ca/silenced/

Wind Turbine Study Not Dead

There is audio for this story. click to open MP3 version or click the play button to listen now.

Testimony sent to Friends Against Wind on May 23, 2016

“Badgers suffer from stress caused by wind turbines. Yes. Humans do, too.”

I contacted Powys Environmental Health department twice in January 2015 and followed it up with a tracer letter in May. I had two concerns:

1. the flickering, not ‘shadow flickering’, of the Dugwm Farm turbine; and
2. because of my hearing, I will either have to put up with the headaches and other discomforts of the turbine with my hearing aids in, or, with them out, try to lip-read what people are saying.

On his request, I called the local Environmental Health Officer, Dan Stykuc, on 23rd September 2015. He said that since it is not a “noise” I am experiencing, it has got nothing to do with him or his department. He asked if I have contacted Public Health Wales, my GP or audiologist.

That I did not complain about “noise” invalidated all my concerns. Mr Stykuc said that the possibility that my symptoms (headaches, imbalance and sleep disturbance) and my husband’s symptoms (headaches, dizziness, insomnia and sleep disturbances) are related to the Dugwm turbine cannot be investigated because they are not “noise”.

One thing is certain: I experience none of them when the turbine is switched off or when I go beyond Stepaside (just under three miles away at the end of the valley), and all of them if the turbine is switched on when I return home.

17th September, 2015 was a memorably disturbed night. The blades were going around, woke me up at 02:30 and kept me awake until after 05:30. In the end I escaped by car, parked it in the middle of town (4.5 miles away) and rested for 3 hours. After that, I spent a long week-end in a wind turbine free area just to get some sleep.

The non-audible “sound” is not much of a “sound” as in music, traffic or an alarm clock. It is more of a super-low murmuring restricting band over my ears; like a colander over my head that somebody is tightening on.

The discomfort, headaches and imbalance are not continuous but appear in waves. I wake up to it most nights when the turbine is switched on and keep me awake during the hours when “deep sleep” would normally take place.

One of the GPs was so concerned about our disturbed sleep that he visited our home and its environs. He agreed that it is not a noise audible to human ear but something “uncomfortable”’ in the garden (the blades were rotating very lazily at the time). He also remarked on the possible sound waves, like a radiation, which might be the cause of this.

Another turbine on the opposite side of the valley, fully visible from anywhere in the front of the house, triggered my sister’s epileptic fits on 20th August 2012. On her return home, she attended her local Clinic, lost her drivers’ licence, her gun licence, her home, and her dog (which she had to kill off). There was no shine observable from this distance, just the rotation.

The shiny Dugwm Farm turbine became operational in January 2015. Because of its position dead-on skyline (against Powys Council guidelines) and in the beginning of a valley, nobody can get to our front door without seeing it. Consequently, my sister can never visit us again.

A grand-daughter (age 2 at the time) visited on 26th October 2015. She got cranky, restless and wiped over her ears. She was awake between 02:00 and 04:00 (she has never suffered from interrupted sleep, not ever, not anywhere else). Her parents are not aware about my symptoms.

I have contacted my council, all departments I can possibly think of contacting. I have had my health checked and declared (reasonably) sane.

On the grounds that even those of us living near a wind turbine have got a right to enjoy family life, home life and peaceful sleep, my next step will be Liberty. Bargers cannot do this.

With good wishes,

A Powys resident

READ: http://en.friends-against-wind.org/testimonies/wind-turbine-stress

My grandaughter asked her dad what Grandma would like for Mothers Day. He said “flaming turbine”.  So she made me one.  Here is what she presented me with.

Wondering what will Grandpa be asking for on Father’s Day?

Scope of inquiry

Much of the UK’s renewable energy sector is based in Scotland and is an important part of our economy. Over recent years the sector has attracted significant investment (over £1bn in 2013) and it now employs an estimated 21,000 people.

The UK Government’s plans to reduce support for the sector has raised concern that any funding changes will have a disproportionate effect on Scotland. The Committee will examine the potential impact of changes to levels of public subsidy available to the renewable energy sector in Scotland.

They will also be looking at what the Scottish and UK governments have done to ensure that the aspirations of the sector are taken fully into account in the development of UK energy policy.

READ MORE:  http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/scottish-affairs-committee/inquiries/parliament-2015/renewable-energy-scotland-15-16/

CHAIR’S COMMENTS:

“The last decade has seen an impressive growth in renewable energy capacity in Scotland and it has recently overtaken nuclear to become the nation’s primary means of energy production. These developing technologies are also a major contributor to the Scottish economy with over 20,000 people employed in the sector.

Now that the UK Government has made it clear that it will not allocate future subsidy to onshore wind, we want to assess the potential impact that these cuts to public funding will have on the industry, to investor confidence and to the Scottish economy.

We also want to see what role the Scotland Office is playing in representing the interests of Scottish people and those working in Renewables who might be affected by these issues. Additionally, we want to see if the aspirations of the sector will deliver the level of carbon savings required to meet future carbon budgets. It is possible that reduced support for the sector might put the UK’s ambitions to meet green energy targets at risk.”