Monitoring annoyance and stress effects of wind turbines on nearby residents: A comparison of U.S. and European samples

Hübner, Gundula; Pohl, Johannes; Hoen, Ben; Firestone, Jeremy; Rand, Joseph; Elliott, Debi; Haac, Ryan

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2019.105090

Title: Monitoring annoyance and stress effects of wind turbines on nearby residents: A comparison of U.S. and European samples

Journal Article · Fri Nov 01 00:00:00 EDT 2019 · Environment International

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2019.105090· OSTI ID:1557891

Hübner, Gundula; Pohl, Johannes; Hoen, Ben;

;

; Elliott, Debi;

As wind turbines and the number of wind projects scale throughout the world, a growing number of individuals might be affected by these structures. For some people, wind turbine sounds and their effects on the landscape can be annoying and could even prompt stress reactions. This comparative study analyzed a combined sample of survey respondents from the U.S., Germany and Switzerland. It utilized a newly developed assessment scale (AS-Scale) to reliably characterize these stress-impacted individuals living within populations near turbines. Findings indicate low prevalence of annoyance, stress symptoms and coping strategies. Noise annoyance stress (NAS-Scale) was negatively correlated with the perceptions of a lack of fairness of the wind project's planning and development process, among other subjective variables. Objective indicators, such as the distance from the nearest turbine and sound pressure level modeled for each respondent, were not found to be correlated to noise annoyance. Similar result patterns were found across the European and U.S. samples.

View Journal Article

Cite

Export

Save

Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Wind Energy Technologies Office

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231

OSTI ID:: 1557891

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1560615

Journal Information:: Environment International, Journal Name: Environment International Vol. 132 Journal Issue: C; ISSN 0160-4120

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Citation Metrics:

Cited by: 37 works

Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (23)

See me, Feel me, Touch me, Heal me: Wind turbines, culture, landscapes, and sound impressions Firestone, Jeremy; Bates, Alison; Knapp, Lauren A. Land Use Policy, Vol. 46 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2015.02.015	journal	July 2015
Spoiled darkness? Sense of place and annoyance over obstruction lights from the world’s largest wind turbine test centre in Denmark Rudolph, David; Kirkegaard, Julia; Lyhne, Ivar Energy Research & Social Science, Vol. 25 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2016.12.024	journal	March 2017
Reconsidering barriers to wind power projects: community engagement, developer transparency and place Firestone, Jeremy; Hoen, Ben; Rand, Joseph Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, Vol. 20, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1080/1523908X.2017.1418656	journal	November 2017
Can road traffic mask sound from wind turbines? Response to wind turbine sound at different levels of road traffic sound Pedersen, Eja; van den Berg, Frits; Bakker, Roel Energy Policy, Vol. 38, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2010.01.001	journal	May 2010
New developments in LISREL: analysis of ordinal variables using polychoric correlations and weighted least squares J�reskog, Karl G. Quality and Quantity, Vol. 24, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00152012	journal	November 1990
Using residential proximity to wind turbines as an alternative exposure measure to investigate the association between wind turbines and human health Barry, Rebecca; Sulsky, Sandra I.; Kreiger, Nancy The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Vol. 143, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1121/1.5039840	journal	June 2018
Self-reported and measured stress related responses associated with exposure to wind turbine noise Michaud, David S.; Feder, Katya; Keith, Stephen E. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Vol. 139, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1121/1.4942402	journal	March 2016
Short-term nighttime wind turbine noise and cardiovascular events: A nationwide case-crossover study from Denmark Poulsen, Aslak Harbo; Raaschou-Nielsen, Ole; Peña, Alfredo Environment International, Vol. 114 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2018.02.030	journal	May 2018
Wind turbine noise, annoyance and self-reported health and well-being in different living environments Pedersen, E.; Persson Waye, K. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Vol. 64, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.2006.031039	journal	July 2007
Long-term exposure to wind turbine noise at night and risk for diabetes: A nationwide cohort study Poulsen, Aslak Harbo; Raaschou-Nielsen, Ole; Peña, Alfredo Environmental Research, Vol. 165 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2018.03.040	journal	August 2018
Descriptive Data Analysis: A Concept between Confirmatory and Exploratory Data Analysis Abt, K. Methods of Information in Medicine, Vol. 26, Issue 02 https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0038-1635488	journal	January 1987
Impact of wind turbine sound on annoyance, self-reported sleep disturbance and psychological distress Bakker, R. H.; Pedersen, E.; van den Berg, G. P. Science of The Total Environment, Vol. 425 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.03.005	journal	May 2012
Perception and annoyance due to wind turbine noise—a dose–response relationship Pedersen, Eja; Persson Waye, Kerstin The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Vol. 116, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1121/1.1815091	journal	December 2004
Wind turbines—low level noise sources interfering with restoration? Pedersen, Eja; Waye, Kerstin Persson Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 3, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/3/1/015002	journal	January 2008
Acceptance and stress effects of aircraft obstruction markings of wind turbines Pohl, Johannes; Hübner, Gundula; Mohs, Anja Energy Policy, Vol. 50 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2012.07.062	journal	November 2012
Lessons learned from Ontario wind energy disputes Fast, Stewart; Mabee, Warren; Baxter, Jamie Nature Energy, Vol. 1, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1038/nenergy.2015.28	journal	January 2016
Understanding stress effects of wind turbine noise – The integrated approach Pohl, Johannes; Gabriel, Joachim; Hübner, Gundula Energy Policy, Vol. 112 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2017.10.007	journal	January 2018
Thirty years of North American wind energy acceptance research: What have we learned? Rand, Joseph; Hoen, Ben Energy Research & Social Science, Vol. 29 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2017.05.019	journal	July 2017
Exposure to wind turbine noise: Perceptual responses and reported health effects Michaud, David S.; Feder, Katya; Keith, Stephen E. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Vol. 139, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1121/1.4942391	journal	March 2016
Personal and situational variables associated with wind turbine noise annoyance Michaud, David S.; Keith, Stephen E.; Feder, Katya The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Vol. 139, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1121/1.4942390	journal	March 2016
Response to noise from modern wind farms in The Netherlands Pedersen, Eja; van den Berg, Frits; Bakker, Roel The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Vol. 126, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1121/1.3160293	journal	August 2009
On the estimation of polychoric correlations and their asymptotic covariance matrix Jöreskog, Karl G. Psychometrika, Vol. 59, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02296131	journal	September 1994
Implications of Wind Power Generation: Exposure to Wind Turbine Noise Arezes, Pedro M.; Bernardo, C. A.; Ribeiro, Estefania Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 109 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.12.478	journal	January 2014