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Onshore Wind: in Your Community

• Public attitudes
• Education
• Tourism
• Employment
• Landscape and visual impact
• Birdlife
• Emissions
• End of life
• Noise
• Electromagnetic interference
• Civil aviation and the Ministry of Defence

Public attitudes

Public attitudes have been widely documented and consistently demonstrate that a clear majority of the population is in favour of wind energy. A recent survey on behalf of the British Wind Energy Association’s (BWEA’s) 2004 Embrace the revolution campaign states that 74 per cent of people agree that wind farms are necessary for the UK to produce the renewable energy it needs to help it meet current and future energy needs.

People living near wind farms reflect this positive feeling. In the same survey, 59 per cent of these people do not believe wind farm spoil the scenery or cause noise nuisance. In many cases, people who held negative views before a wind farm was built changed their mind once the wind farm was constructed.

In addition, research by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) (source: BRMB/RSPB, October 2001) revealed that only 3 per cent of the UK public are opposed to building onshore wind farms in the UK over the next 10 years, and only 14 per cent do not want onshore wind farms within three miles of their home. The survey found that wind and hydroelectricity were the most popular means of generating electricity.

Education

Wind farms can represent a valuable educational resource. This is achieved through the incorporation of measures such as public access and the commissioning of interpretation panels to provide background information on developments and their wider context.

Tourism

A number of wind farms throughout the UK offer visitor centre facilities that encourage people to learn more about how the farms operate and dispel any myths.

Employment

Work undertaken by the DTI (now BERR) as part of its ‘Renewables Supply Chain Gap Analysis’ indicates that around 8,000 people are currently employed in the renewables industry, with the potential for this to rise to around 35,000 over the longer term.

Renewable Supply Chain Gap Analysis - Summary Report (2466KB)

Landscape and visual impact

Wind turbines can cause a visual impact on the landscape, although opinion on this impact is divided. Developers are obliged to avoid the most sensitive landscapes, such as national parks or Areas of Natural Beauty. They undertake significant assessments of the visual effect on the landscape when preparing planning applications. This allows for a full and independent assessment of the turbines’ potential effects. A number of surveys have demonstrated that public concerns regarding the landscape and visual effects of wind turbines are significantly reduced following the construction of the schemes where this has happened, and that the turbines have no effect on tourism or the general public’s perception of areas where they are located.

Birdlife

No existing wind farms in the UK have been proved to have a detrimental impact on birdlife. Ongoing survey work at a number of sites in England and Scotland has not identified any impact on bird populations. Any impacts have been negligible in comparison with other causes of bird fatalities, such as collisions with buildings, road traffic and the domestic cat. For example, the British Trust for Ornithology has recently estimated that 33 million birds die in the UK every year following collisions with windows. Developers avoid areas where significant populations of protected birds are identified.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds supports the sustainable development of renewable energy such as wind power because it helps mitigate climate change, which it believes ‘poses the most significant long-term threat to the environment… The available evidence suggests that appropriately positioned wind farms do not pose a significant hazard for bird’.

Emissions

It is estimated that the target of 10 per cent of UK electricity from renewable sources in 2010 could cut carbon emissions by 2.5 million tonnes a year. Wind is likely to make up around three-quarters of all renewable electricity generation in 2010 and would account for an approximately similar proportion of the carbon dioxide savings.

In the production, construction and maintenance of a wind turbine, carbon dioxide is produced, primarily due to the fossil fuel-based energy consumed during these processes. However, the average UK wind farm will pay back the energy used in its manufacture within three to five months. With lifetimes of 20 to 25 years, each wind turbine will produce far more energy over this period than the energy consumed to make and maintain it.

End of life

At the end of a turbine’s operating life, it is relatively simple to remove the turbine and the electrical equipment and restore the site. The developer is usually responsible for decommissioning the site and, in general, this is agreed as part of the case for planning approval.

Noise

The process by which wind turbines convert wind energy into electricity produces two distinct sources of noise: mechanical noise from within the head of the turbine and aerodynamic noise from the blades. However, improvements in wind turbine and, in particular, gearbox technology have helped to steadily reduce levels of audible noise.

All wind farm noise assessments are undertaken using the methodology developed for the then DTI and published in ‘The Working Group on noise from wind turbines (1996) assessment and rating of noise from wind farms’ (ETSU-R-97). This document states the procedure to make sure that sites are chosen appropriately, and that noise levels are considered in the overall planning process.

At the beginning of 2004, the press highlighted that low frequency noise or infrasound could be produced by wind turbines, and that this was possibly a cause of sleep interruption and headaches. However, Low frequency noise and vibrations at a modern wind farm (ETSU W/13/00392/REP), commissioned by the then DTI in 1997, comprehensively assessed the vibrations from wind turbines and concluded that:

• vibration levels attenuated rapidly with distance
• there was no clear increase in vibration with wind speed
• 100 metres away from the turbine, levels were 10 times lower than the safety requirements for modern laboratories.

In the light of continuing public concern, the Government has commissioned an independent study, due to report early in 2005.
However, it should be noted that no such problems have been experienced in Denmark, a country with a wind turbine density currently around 30 times that of the UK.

Electromagnetic interference

Wind turbines can sometimes cause electromagnetic interference, potentially leading to problems such as ‘ghosting’ on television screens. Developers putting up signal booster equipment on or around the wind farm site can generally correct this easily.

Civil aviation and the Ministry of Defence

The Government has established a Wind Energy, Defence and Civil Aviation Interests Working Group. This Group has commissioned research into the effects of rotating wind turbine blades on radar, which can potentially compromise the safety of civil and military aviation. The Group is looking to incorporate the results of all work carried out since the publication of its Interim Best Practice Guidelines in 2002, with a view to publishing final guidelines in 2005.

The Civil Aviation Authority and the Ministry of Defence have also set up a process whereby wind energy developers can consult them informally, well before they apply for consent to build a project, to find out whether the wind farm is likely to have an impact on their operations.

The number of projects receiving consent is increasing, and objections to a number of sites have been successfully resolved, for example the 130-megawatt Hadyard Hill site in Scotland, which will be one of the largest onshore sites in the UK when completed.