[Newsbot]

Title: Grouse Mountain wind turbine hooked up
Category: Tech
Posted By: Hyack
Date: 2010-09-22 22:57:22
Canadian

[Strutz]

Excellent. It'll be interesting to see how much power it actually generates now that it's functional.

It is very visible on the mountain. Now that I see it has an observation pod I really want to check that out. The view will be fantastic.

[djakeydd]

I personally think the things are abominable, especially when anywhere near communities and beyond that they are an eyesore and an environmental disaster.

[martin14]

I have seen lots of these in Spain.
For a country that gets so much sun, why they do this is beyond me.

There are also a whole bunch on the border between Slovakia and Austria.



They are ugly, make noise. kill birds, and dont work very well.



Trust me, you dont want these....

[Hyack]

On the good side, there's only one of them on Grouse....

[martin14]

for now..............

[Regina]

Lots of controversy with them around here too. Not sure why because there is so much rural area around here, but they plan on putting 25-50 of them on the mountain just above a housing development. It's within the regulated legal limits but because of their size, they will appear very close. Health and safety concerns aside, they are a poor source for power generation and extremely expensive in relation to the power they make.

[stratos]

$1:

They are ugly, make noise. kill birds, and dont work very well.

I've never been near one, ugly eh I've seen uglier things. How bad is the noise, for some reason I thought they were supposed to be quiet. Kill's birds ??? How does it kill birds?

[martin14]

Reference
Noise from Wind Turbines - The Facts

This document is also available in PDF format

Prepared with assistance from the Hayes McKenzie Partnership,
Consultants in Acoustics, Southampton and Machynlleth.

Virtually everything with moving parts will make some sound, and wind turbines are no exception. Well designed wind turbines are generally quiet in operation, and compared to the noise of road traffic, trains, aircraft and construction activities, to name but a few, the noise from wind turbines is very low. Outside the nearest houses, which are at least 300 metres away, and more often further, the sound of a wind turbine generating electricity is likely to be about the same level as noise from a flowing stream about 50-100 metres away or the noise of leaves rustling in a gentle breeze. This is similar to the sound level inside a typical living room with a gas fire switched on, or the reading room of a library or in an unoccupied, quiet, air-conditioned office.
Source/Activity Indicative noise level dB (A)
Threshold of hearing 0
Rural night-time background 20-40
Quiet bedroom 35
Wind farm at 350m 35-45
Car at 40mph at 100m 55
Busy general office 60
Truck at 30mph at 100m 65
Pneumatic drill at 7m 95
Jet aircraft at 250m 105
Threshold of pain 140


http://www.bwea.com/ref/noise.html


No, it aint like my Harley, but it is there and it will be noticed, especially at night.


Killing birds, an article in April that has some numbers.

http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainme ... id=2950622

$1:

The American Bird Conservancy estimates that U.S. wind turbines kill between 75,000 and 275,000 birds per year. That’s far fewer than are killed by cats, vehicles or transmission lines, but it still has the potential to adversely impact local populations.

[stratos]

Thanks Martin.

Wonder if they have ever studied how many birds die flying into building windows. Had one slam into our glass doors at work a couple weeks ago. Dude twitched for a min and died. He hit so hard I thought someone had thrown a brick at the door.

[ASLplease]

stratos stratos:

$1:

They are ugly, make noise. kill birds, and dont work very well.

I've never been near one, ugly eh I've seen uglier things. How bad is the noise, for some reason I thought they were supposed to be quiet. Kill's birds ??? How does it kill birds?

The tip of those props are travelling really fast, if a bird gets in the way, it may not get out of the way.

[KorbenDeck]

This is how birds get hit


The real problem (from an environmental point of view) isn't birds, it's bats.
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008 ... -wind.html

I've never been a fan of wind turbines, I personally think waste-to-energy and geothermal are the way to go. Though geothermal has a way to go yet technology wise.