Offshore Wind Farms Could Disturb Marine Mammal Behavior

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@douglasengle2704 5 ай бұрын

Noise is the primary reason wind turbines are being largely banded from onshore use in the USA. They need to be 1-1/2 - 2 miles (~3 km) or more from were people are, which even in lightly populated areas is difficult to do. There are at least two main sources of wind turbine noise. Where the blades cross the support tower creating a hushed low frequency noise transmitted through atmosphere and where the blade tips cross the ground or water throwing air pressure into the surface causing noise that is transmitted long distance through the ground or water. This talk has the uncomfortable possibility of trying to represent the noise from a wind turbine's gear box and drive train as being ALL THE NOISE from a wind turbine which would be mild, when it is the blade's noise of a hushed low frequency high intensity that likely chases away most of the fish from offshore operating wind turbines. French fishermen protested an offshore wind turbine farm installation because their experience with operating offshore wind turbines is there is no higher level marine life such as fish around large offshore wind turbines. Once a boat is within 1/2 km of an operating offshore wind turbine the noise starts being stressful on the crew. It is almost unbearable when under it. Anytime there is a documentary on servicing offshore wind turbines the service crew had turned the wind turbine off and locked the blades before approaching it. On land wind turbines transmit sound through the ground that is of low frequency at around 15 Hz where human hearing typically is stated to only go as low as 20 Hz. That 15 Hz frequency at high intensity can rattle a person's skeleton. It varies with the strength of the wind and the power the wind turbine blades are extracting. The avoidance of addressing the noise from offshore operating wind turbines to higher level marine life such as fish may with the future high maintenance costs make them an obvious expensive blunder that was largely known from the beginning. There never being a realistic equitable balance from the large impact they have on their close by environment, high capital cost, high cost maintenance at high human risk, with comparatively little electricity generated that can only substitute when available and needs to be conditioned for grid quality power. There still has to be dispatchable power available for every MW of grid contracted capacity. Unlike onshore wind turbines that are a hazard if left derelict offshore wind turbines might be left derelict as artificial reefs and marine tourist sights.