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Check  energy.novascotia.ca  Wind energy page for more information.

The WindFacts website is an initiative of wind energy industry leaders whose goal is to ensure Canadians have access to fact-based answers to their questions in order to make informed decisions about our energy future.

The WindFacts website contains facts and resources that address a number of areas of key interest to Canadians: how wind works, health, community, affordability and environment and wildlife. By logging in through top social media programs such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, visitors can also submit questions about wind energy on the Questions Page.

Wind turbines work on the same principle that allows airplanes to fly. The wind doesn’t push the blades, but passes over them. The resulting pressure difference between the upper and lower surfaces creates lift, which causes the rotor to turn.

As the blades of a wind turbine turn, the kinetic energy of the wind is converted into mechanical energy, which is transmitted through a drive shaft to an electrical generator in the nacelle. The resulting electrical current travels via underground cables to a substation, where it is converted to a higher voltage for the larger electricity transmission or distribution grid. From there, it’s delivered to the electric utility and customers.

For more information, see the graphic at http://windfacts.ca/why-wind-works

From www.windfacts.ca.

Wind turbines are mechanical structures with moving parts and therefore they produce sound. As wind turbine technology has evolved, the sound emitted by wind turbines has decreased. Federal and/or provincial regulations protect local residents from the negative impacts of wind farms by introducing noise limits and minimum setback distances between residential dwellings and wind turbines. Wind power developers will carry out studies before construction to confirm that noise produced by the turbines will fall within noise limits, and will carry out monitoring after construction to confirm this.

An assessment will be carried out of the project’s impact on local birds, animals and plants, which will be reviewed by local regulatory agencies. These studies will normally include results of surveys of birds, animals and plants found in the area impacted by the project, details on the monitoring methods used and conclusions drawn.

Many reports suggest that wind turbines cause many bird deaths. An Environment Canada report released in 2013, together with similar studies in the US, suggest that wind turbines account for a tiny proportion (less than 0.01%) of the human related bird deaths, with collision with power lines, buildings and vehicles accounting for over 90% of the approximately 75 million bird deaths each year (see CBC – Nine Leading Causes of Bird Deaths in Canada and Green Energy Futures Episode: Wind Wildlife Impacts ).

Wind turbines start operating in a light breeze, around 10 kilometers an hour and reach maximum power output in a strong breeze (over 40 km/h). As soon as the wind speed increases to a strong gale (over 80 km/h), wind turbines automatically shut down to reduce unnecessary wear and tear.

Wind energy is a safe and environmentally friendly form of new electricity generation. The balance of scientific evidence to date shows that there is no direct link between wind turbines and human health issues. Because it does not produce any harmful pollutants, wind energy can help reduce our pollution and green-house gas emissions by reducing the need to produce electricity using fossil fuels.

Here are links to many studies that have been carried out to assess whether wind turbine have any impact on health.

• The Municipality of Kings County in Nova Scotia undertook an expert review of the potential health and safety impacts from large-scale wind turbines. The expert authors reviewed available data from existing studies – it did not directly study the effects. A link to the report can be found at http://www.countyofkings.ca/residents/planning/windturbines.aspx – see “2012.05.17 Final consultants report” under “Project Reports”.

• Study results by Simon Chapman, professor of public health at Sydney University, suggest that health problems attributed to wind energy are a ”communicated disease” – or a sickness spread by the suggestion that something is likely to make a person sick. This is caused by the ”nocebo effect” – the opposite of the placebo effect – in which the belief that something can cause an illness creates the perception of illness.
• A report released by the South Australian Environment Protection Authority (EPA), consistent with most studies in this area, concluded that “…the level of infrasound at houses near the wind turbines assessed is no greater than that experienced in other urban and rural environments, and that the contribution of wind turbines to the measured infrasound levels is insignificant in comparison with the background level of infrasound in the environment.”

• The Quebec National Institute of Public Health issued a report on wind turbines and public health (French only) which concluded that “wind turbine generated infrasound does not seem to be of sufficient intensity to cause health problems or annoyance”. CanWEA translated the key conclusions and recommendations from the report.

• Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health: According to the scientific evidence, there is no direct causal link between wind turbine noise and adverse health effects. (Summary P.3 / Wind Turbine Regulation in Ontario P.8-9 / Main Conclusions P.10) The Potential Health Impact of Wind Turbines

• Expert Panel Review: There is nothing unique about the sounds and vibrations emitted by wind turbines. The body of accumulated knowledge about sound and health is substantial. The body of accumulated knowledge provides no evidence that the audible or subaudible sounds emitted by wind turbines have any direct adverse physiological effects. (Main conclusions P. 5-1 – 5-2) Wind Turbine Sound and Health Effects An Expert Panel Review or Executive Summary & Biographies

• Summary of main conclusions reached in 20 reviews of the research literature on wind farms and health compiled by Prof Simon Chapman, School of Public Health and Teresa Simonetti, Sydney University Medical School.

• In 17 Canadian hearings to date “courts found that wind farms would not and do not cause health impacts,” says a review by the Energy & Policy Institute.

There have been several studies in Canada, the US and in Europe which have attempted to assess whether the proximity of wind turbines will affect the value of a home. There are many factors which may affect the value of a property and determining the impact that any single factor may have is difficult. However, studies have found no evidence that wind energy projects are having negative effects on property values.

Here are links to many studies that have been conducted concerning property values.

• 2012 Assessment Base Year Study- Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC’s) study concludes that “2012 Current Value Assessments (CVA) of properties located within proximity to [a wind turbine] are assessed at their current value and are equitably assessed in relation to homes at greater distances. No adjustments are required for 2012 CVAs. This finding is consistent with MPAC’s 2008 CVA report. The 2012 CVA study also found that there is no statistically significant impact on sale prices of residential properties in these market areas resulting from proximity to [a wind turbine]. The study underwent a rigorous independent third-party peer review and includes appendices describing the study parameters and documenting the analyses.”

• Assessment Review Board: In the Assessment Review Board hearing, MPAC argued that there was no evidence to show that construction and operation of wind turbines had reduced the current value of the landowner’s property. Decision of the Assessment Review Board, File No: WR 113994. Township of Frontenac Islands (P.35)

• MPAC NEWS Summer 2012 – Property Assessment & Wind Turbines: To date, the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation’s (MPAC) analysis of sales has indicated that the presence of wind turbines that are either abutting or in proximity to a property has neither a positive nor negative impact on its value.

• Effects of Wind Turbines on Property Values in Rhode Island (2013) – The results of the study suggest that there is no statistical evidence for negative property value impacts of wind turbines. These results are consistent with Hoen et al. (2013), who examine impacts of large wind farms in nine states.

• US Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory – A Spatial Hedonic Analysis of the Effects of Wind Energy Facilities on Surrounding Property Values in the United States: The analysis found “no statistical evidence that home values near turbines were affected in the post-construction or post-announcement/pre-construction periods.” The study collected data from over 50,000 home sales in the US, including data prior to and following announcement and construction of wind projects in 9 states. In addition, the researchers included homes that were within ½ mile of a project.

• US Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: The proximity to wind energy facilities does not have a pervasive or widespread adverse effect on the value of nearby homes. The research in The Impact of Wind Power Projects on Residential Property Values in the United States: A Multi-Site Hedonic Analysiscovered a time span from before the wind farms were announced to well after construction and operation (P.69-75).

• Wind Farm Proximity and Property Values: A pooled Hedonic Regression Analysis of Property Values in Central Illinois: The objectives of this study are to examine whether proximity to the 240-turbine Twin Groves Wind Farm in Illinois, has impacted nearby residential property values.

• Canning Consultants Inc. studied 83 properties in the Chatham-Kent region and found that in the study area where wind farms were clearly visible, there was no empirical evidence to indicate that rural residential properties realized lower sale prices than similar residential properties within the same area that were outside of the view shed of a wind turbine. Wind Energy Study – Effects on Real Estate Values in the Municipality of Chatham-Kent, Ontario