The Independent Noise Working Group (INWG) is a multi-discipline team fully independent of the wind industry and government.
Principal aim
The principal aim of the INWG is ensuring that the acoustic impacts from wind turbines are properly controlled in order to protect public health and well being.
Why is the INWG here?
There is mounting evidence that the current means of controlling wind turbine noise, known as ETSU-R-97, is failing to protect public health and well-being. This is unsurprising bearing in mind the following:
- The method for controlling wind turbine noise is caveated to protect the wind turbine owners. A small group of noise consultants authored a noise guidance methodology known as ETSU-R-97 for assessing wind turbine noise during 1997, with the; “thought to offer a reasonable degree of protection to wind farm neighbours, without placing unreasonable restrictions on wind farm development”. This ‘thought‘ does not translate to ‘protecting public health and well-being’.
- The public are not afforded the same degree of protection from wind turbine noise as they are from the majority of other industrial and commercial noise sources. These other industrial and commercial noise sources are controlled through the application of British Standards methodology BS4142 (BS4142:2014+A1:2019).
- More research is needed into the health impacts from wind turbine noise so that better quality evidence can inform any future public health recommendations properly. This includes noise that you can’t hear but can still affect your health, often referred to as low frequency noise or infrasound. In their 2018 European Noise Guidelines, the WHO, World Health Organisation states, “Further research into the health impacts from wind turbine noise is needed so that better quality evidence can inform any future public health recommendations properly.”
What the INWG does
- Challenges the use of ETSU-R-97 for controlling wind turbine noise.
- Raises awareness of the full spectrum of acoustic issues facing communities where wind turbines are operating or proposed.
- Lobbies government to address the issues around wind turbine noise.
The INWG Recommendations to Government
One: Implement the same level of protection of public health and well-being as applied to the majority of other industrial and commercial noise sources, namely BS4142.
Two: Introduce licensing and regulation of wind power generation by a national agency such as the Environment Agency as occurs with similar industrial noise sources.
Three: Conduct independent research into the effects on health and well-being of wind turbine noise including impacts from long term exposure, low frequency noise, infrasound, amplitude modulation and tonal noise as recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Wind power deployment should be able to address the need for renewable energy generation whilst also protecting the public health and well being of those living nearby.
Only when rural communities are confident that onshore wind power is properly regulated will it be possible for onshore wind deployment to be more widely accepted.