tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6720895508800507532.post7816931836315848227..comments2023-07-21T07:07:29.279-07:00Comments on Once Upon a College: Maine wind ordinance recommendationsMickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09058893780999651690noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6720895508800507532.post-73198663851623666802009-07-21T20:16:39.459-07:002009-07-21T20:16:39.459-07:00Glad to see you recognize the "dis-amenity&qu...Glad to see you recognize the "dis-amenity" of turbine noise. Torment would be a better word. <br /><br />Two big problems with the way the wind industry predicts turbine noise is the failure to include a 5 dBA penalty for short duration repetitive noise ("blade thump") and the failure to consider the relationship of the turbines to nearby homes. When a string of turbines is on a ridge perpendicular to homes below they are a line source of noise, which takes into account the focusing effect of multiple turbines. Decay rates for line source is 3 db per doubling, whereas for individual point sources it is 6 db. The wind industry refuses to acknowledge either SDR noise or line source, which leads to the underprediction of noise that has plagued the first wind projects in Maine, and threatens Rollins and Roxbury, where even though turbines are a mile or more away they are focused on lakes below, which experience temperature inversions and stable atmospheres at night, while wind is sufficient on the ridges for turbine operation. This is the worst possible situation for low frequency blade thump causing sleep disturbance when ambient sound levels are in the 20 dBA range. Blade thump is not accurately measured with dBA scale. A dBA meter reading showing 40 dBA might show 60 dB or higher if the "flat" dBC scale were used. World Health Organization recommends limits of 5 dBA daytime and 3 dBA nighttime above background levels. This means turbine noise should not be more than 23 dBA at night in these dead quiet rural lakeshore communities. <br /><br />Regarding setback limitations, <br />what if I owned a piece of land near a proposed turbine project, where I intended to build a house one day. Shouldn't my land be protected, not just existing structures? Otherwise the presence of turbines might make my building site worthless. <br /><br />Grid scale wind power is a scam. It will cost 7 billion to place 2700 MW of wind power in Maine's mountains. The Task Force and the wind law were driven by wind industry lawyers, not a legitimate public process. The law spent only 15 days in the legislature. No one even read it. Every rep I have spoken to had no idea what 2700 MW of wind power meant for Maine's environment. The wind law needs to be repealed, or here is what will happen:<br /><br />1800 GE 1.5s will be required, on 180 miles of ridge. Blasted road to the tops and all along the ridges will be required. Hundreds of miles of new transmission corridors. All for about 4% of the daily demand of the New England grid. <br /><br />If the money being used to subsidize the wind industry in Maine was instead directed, where it would actually do some good, toward conservation and efficiency programs, each household in Maine would receive $14,000 in tax credits and incentives for insulation, more efficient heating systems, better windows, or a more fuel efficient vehicle. Huge reductions in foreign oil used for home heating and transportation could be achieved. <br /><br />Wind power achieves nothing but the destruction of the environment and the peace and quiet of people and animals living nearby. <br /><br />Small scale wind rarely makes sense due to lack of sufficient wind to pay back the cost, unless you are off the grid and use wind in conjunction with other forms of generation for charging batteries, where cost becomes a personal choice issue.<br /><br />Off shore wind holds promise. R and D should continue for deep water rigs. In 15 or 20 years it might make sense to think about wide scale deployment. 20 miles off shore is a lot shorter distance to population centers along the coast than remote wind farms in Maine's mountains are. 95% of Maine's wind resource lies offshore. Winds are stronger and steadier.<br /><br />Please back away from your support for land based grid scale wind power. Save the mountains for future generations. They will thank us, I feel certain.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01716484565212268384noreply@blogger.com