Installed global wind power increased by 26% during 2003, with U.S and Europe accounting for 90% of the cumulative capacity. Little is known about wind turbines’ impact on people living in their vicinity. The aims of this study were to evaluate the prevalence of annoyance due to wind turbine noise and to study dose–response relationships. Interrelationships between noise annoyance and sound characteristics, as well as the influence of subjective variables such as attitude and noise sensitivity, were also assessed. A cross-sectional study was performed in Sweden in 2000. Responses were obtained through questionnaires (n=351; response rate 68.4%), and doses were calculated as A-weighted sound pressure levels for each respondent. A statistically significant dose–response relationship was found, showing higher proportion of people reporting perception and annoyance than expected from the present dose–response relationships for transportation noise. The unexpected high proportion of annoyance could be due to visual interference, influencing noise annoyance, as well as the presence of intrusive sound characteristics. The respondents’ attitude to the visual impact of wind turbines on the landscape scenery was found to influence noise annoyance.

1.
Ackermann
,
T.
, and
Söder
,
L.
(
2000
). “
Wind energy technology and current status—a review
,”
Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev.
4
,
315
374
.
2.
Altman, D. G. (1991). Practical Statistics for Medical Research (Chapman & Hall, London).
3.
American Wind Energy Association (2004). Global wind energy market report 2004, http://www.awea.org/pubs/documents/globalmarket2004.pdf (last viewed online 15 June, 2004).
4.
Arlinger, S., and Gustafsson, H.-Å. (1988). “Hur ett ljudband med konstant ljudnivå maskerar ett brusband med periodiskt varierande ljudnivå” (“How a broadband noise with constant sound pressure level masks a broadband with periodically varying sound pressure levels”), Department of Technical Audiology, Linköping University, Sweden.
5.
Björkman
,
M.
(
2004
). “
Long time measurements of noise from wind turbines
,”
J. Sound Vib.
277
,
567
572
6.
Fidell
,
S.
(
2003
). “
The Schultz curve 25 years later: A research perspective
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
144
,
3007
3015
.
7.
Fidell
,
S.
,
Barber
,
D. S.
, and
Schultz
,
T. J.
(
1991
). “
Updating a dosage-effect relationship for the prevalence of annoyance due to general transportation noise
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
89
,
221
233
.
8.
Hubbard
,
H. H.
,
Grosveld
,
F. W.
, and
Shepherd
,
K. P.
(
1983
). “
Noise characteristics of large wind turbine generators
,”
Noise Control Eng. J.
21
,
21
29
.
9.
Job
,
R. F. S.
(
1988
). “
Community response to noise: a review of factors influencing the relationship between noise exposure and reaction
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
83
,
991
1001
.
10.
Kastka
,
J.
, and
Hangartner
,
M.
(
1986
). “
Machen hässlichen Strassen den Verkehrlärm lästiger” (“Do ugly streets make traffic noise more annoying?”
),
Arcus
1
,
23
29
.
11.
Lercher
,
P.
(
1996
). “
Environmental noise and health: an integrated research perspective
,”
Environ. Int.
22
,
117
128
.
12.
Lowson, M. V. (1996). “Aerodynamic noise of wind turbines,” in Proceedings of Internoise, 30 July–2 August, Liverpool, England, pp. 479–484.
13.
Matsumura
,
Y.
, and
Rylander
,
R.
(
1991
). “
Noise sensitivity and road traffic annoyance in a population sample
,”
J. Sound Vib.
151
,
415
419
.
14.
Miedema
,
H. M. E.
, and
Oudshoorn
,
C. G. M.
(
2001
). “
Annoyance from transportation noise: relationships with exposure metrics DNL and DENL and their confidence intervals
,”
Environ. Health Perspect.
109
,
409
416
.
15.
Miedema
,
H. M. E.
, and
Vos
,
H.
(
1998
). “
Exposure–response relationships for transportation noise
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
104
,
3432
3445
.
16.
Miedema
,
H. M. E.
, and
Vos
,
H.
(
1999
). “
Demographic and attitudinal factors that modify annoyance from transportation noise
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
105
,
3336
3344
.
17.
Miller
,
M. B.
(
1995
). “
Coefficient alpha: a basic introduction from the perspectives of classical test theory and structural equation modeling
,”
Struct. Eq. Model.
2
,
255
273
.
18.
Nagelkerke
,
N. J. D.
(
1991
). “
A note on the general definition of the coefficient of determination
,”
Biometrika
78
,
691
692
.
19.
Öhrström
,
E.
(
2004
). “
Longitudinal surveys on effects of changes in road traffic noise-annoyance, activity disturbances, and psycho-social well-being
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
145
,
719
729
.
20.
Pedersen, E. (2000). “Störningsupplevelser från vindkraft, förstudie” (“Experience of annoyance from wind turbines, a pilot study”), Halmstad University, Sweden.
21.
Pedersen, T. H., and Nielsen, K. S. (1994). “Genvirkning af støj fra vindmøller” (“Annoyance by noise from wind turbines”), Report 150, DELTA Acoustic & Vibration, Lydtekniske Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark.
22.
Persson Waye, K., and Agge, A. (2000). “Experimental quantification of annoyance to unpleasant and pleasant wind turbine sounds,” in Proceedings of Internoise, 27–30 August, Nice, France, pp. 3994–3997.
23.
Persson Waye
,
K.
, and
Öhrström
,
E.
(
2002
). “
Psycho-acoustic characters of relevance for annoyance of wind turbine noise
,”
J. Sound Vib.
250
,
65
73
.
24.
Persson Waye, K., Öhrström, E., and Björkman, M. (1998). “Sounds from wind turbines–can they be made more pleasant?” in Proceedings of 7th International Congress on Noise as a Public Health Problem, 22–26 November, Sydney, Australia, pp. 531–534.
25.
Persson Waye K., Agge, A., and Björkman M. (2000). “Pleasant and unpleasant characteristics in wind turbine sounds,” in Proceedings of Internoise, 27–30 August, Nice, France, pp. 2327–2330.
26.
Rand
,
M.
, and
Clarke
,
A.
(
1990
). “
The environmental and community impacts of wind energy in the UK
,”
Wind Eng.
14
,
319
330
.
27.
Schultz
,
T. J.
(
1978
). “
Synthesis of social surveys on noise annoyance
,”
J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
64
,
377
405
.
28.
Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (2001). “Ljud från vindkraftverk” (“Noise from wind turbines”), Report 6241, Stockholm, Sweden.
29.
Viollon
,
S.
,
Lavandier
,
C.
, and
Drake
,
C.
(
2002
). “
Influence of visual setting on sound ratings in an urban environment
,”
Appl. Acoust.
63
,
493
511
.
30.
Wagner, S., Bareiss, R., and Guidati, G. (1996). “Wind turbine noise,” EUR 16823 (Springer).
31.
Watts
,
G.
,
Chinn
,
L.
, and
Godfrey
,
N.
(
1999
). “
The effects of vegetation on the perception of traffic noise
,”
Appl. Acoust.
56
,
39
56
.
32.
Weinsten
,
N. D.
(
1980
). “
Individual differences in critical tendencies and noise annoyance
,”
J. Sound Vib.
68
,
241
248
.
33.
Wolsink, M., Sprengers, M., Keuper, A., Pedersen, T. H., and Westra, C. A. (1993). “Annoyance from wind turbine noise on sixteen sites in three countries,” European Community Wind Energy Conference, 8–12 March, Lübeck, Travemünde, Germany, pp. 273–276.
This content is only available via PDF.
You do not currently have access to this content.