Community survey on noise impacts induced by 2 MW wind turbines in China

Abstract

In order to investigate the noise impacts of wind turbines with a high single-machine capacity (2 MW) on the residents living around, a face-to-face questionnaire survey was conducted. The moderating factors of noise annoyance, noise exposure-response relationships as well as noise impacts on sleep and self-reported health were investigated. Results showed that noise sensitivity, attitude towards wind turbines' visual impact on the landscape, general opinion on wind turbines and noise intensity had statistically significant impacts on annoyance due to wind turbine noise. Compared with wind turbines with lower single-machine capacity in relevant studies, those with higher single-machine capacity in this study induced higher annoyance at the same L den , which was relative to the visibility of wind turbines, background noise levels of wind farm area, etc. Noise sensitivity, noise annoyance and noise intensity, which had no significant correlation with self-reported health effects, were statistically significantly correlated with sleep disturbance on respondents.

Investigation of occupational noise annoyance in a wind turbine power plant

“…In total, 53 subjects, working in Manjil wind farm, participated in this study. The mean (SD) age, work experience, and noise sensitivity of the participants were 30.8(5.9) years, 14.1(5.5) years, and 70.2 (14), respectively. The mean (SD) noise annoyance for the whole personnel was 6(2.5).…”

“…12,13 The emitted noise from the WTs can cause annoyance or inconvenience to the residents near the WTs. 14,15 Janssen et al 16 compared the noise annoyance of WTs and other noise sources and stated that in equal Lden, noise annoyance caused by WTs is more than that caused by environmental sources such as road and rail traffic noise. Leventhall 17 expressed that the time-varying sounds are much more annoying than steady noise with an equal equivalent noise level.…”

Response to Noise Emitted by Wind Farms in People Living in Nearby Areas

“…Later, cross-sectional studies on human responses to wind turbine noise have been conducted also in other countries, including New Zealand [29], USA [30,31], China [32], Canada [11,12,13,33] and Poland [15,16,17,18]. A questionnaire was applied as the main research tool in almost all of them, excluding the recent Community Noise and Health Study (CNHS) in Canada which assessed responses to the wind turbine noise using both self-reported and objective measures (e.g., measures of blood pressure and heart rate) [13].…”

“…These calculations were usually supplemented (or verified) by in situ noise measurements [1,2,3,5,32]. However, Magari et al [31] based their study on short-term outdoor and indoor sound pressure level measurements at respondents’ dwellings.…”

Using residential proximity to wind turbines as an alternative exposure measure to investigate the association between wind turbines and human health

“…Other research has found that individuals reporting annoyance due to environmental noise also report health conditions including ischemic heart disease, depression, and migraines (Babisch et al, 2003;Maschke and Niemann, 2007). A recent study conducted in China found that noise sensitivity, attitudes towards the visual impact of wind turbines on the surrounding landscape, general opinions on wind turbines and noise intensity moderates the relationship between WTN and annoyance (Song et al, 2016). Together, these data suggest that preventive measures, including positive engagement between the community and the wind power companies, could reduce annoyance among residents.…”