In the Victorian Supreme Court a judge has just ordered that the Bald Hills Wind farm must turn off at night time. After seven years of pain and suffering, two households living nearby will finally get night time relief and some payments of $92,000 and $168,000.
“The wind farm noise has been a common law nuisance at both properties.”
Bald hills, Wind Farm, Victoria, Australia. Image: John Englart Flikr CC BY-SA 2.0
This could change everything. These industrial plants close to homes just became even less profitable because they can’t operate at night. They also need to pay damages to people affected by the noise, and do more maintenance to reduce noise — like repairing gear boxes more often, and they may have to pay to make changes at homes nearby to ameliorate the nuisance, or pay compensation. Many properties near the towers have abandoned plans to build new houses there.
What stands out in this ruling is how entirely inadequate were any of the attempts by the government that approved the wind plants, or the companies that profited from them, to measure and assess the noise, and to respond to complaints. Despite tens of thousands of windfarms being built, the science of acoustic disturbance from them is practically a vacuum. If the companies that built these machines were at all considerate environmental players they would have many measurements, plus publicly available data. They’d know the effect of different wind speeds and directions, plus temperatures and humidity. For their own sake, they would identify the worst conditions, and shut particular turbines off preemptively so to avoid cases exactly like this (and just to show they were good global citizens).
Witness statements include intermittent effects so bad that people take painkillers, install double glazing, and even sleep in their cars elsewhere in desperation. Even during the day sometimes watching TV or talking becomes so difficult that one witness sends text messages to have a conversation.
No one even mentions here — if this noise is sometimes so appalling for the humans around these towers, what’s it like for the animals?
Landmark Decision Vindicates Victims: Supreme Court Orders Total Wind Farm Shutdown
by Stopthesethings
In a world-first, neighbours tormented by wind turbine noise have won a landmark victory, forcing the operator to shut down all of its turbines at night-time.
Yesterday, Justice Melinda Richards of the Victorian Supreme Court slapped an injunction on a wind farm because the noise it generates has been driving neighbours nuts for seven years, and the operator has done absolutely nothing about their suffering.
Her Honour also ordered damages, including aggravated damages for the high-handed way in which the operator has treated its victims. Since March 2015, the community surrounding the Bald Hills wind farm have been tortured by low-frequency noise and infrasound generated by 52, 2 Megawatt Senvion MM92s.
After a bruising piece of litigation (where the operator withheld critical evidence from the plaintiffs and its acoustic consultant was caught out ‘filtering’ – ie destroying – rafts of noise data) and a hard-fought trial, these thoroughly courageous gentlemen have established what has been known, all along: everyone has a legally enforceable right to sleep soundly at night in their very own homes; and the wind industry has been destroying that right with impunity, for far too long.
What Noel Uren and John Zakula have achieved is not just notable and noble, it reflects the adage about evil prevailing when good men do nothing.
Refusing to be [cowed] by the operator’s threats, bullying and intimidation, these men did something and, accordingly, every wind industry victim owes them a debt of eternal gratitude for what they have achieved and placed on the public record. At last. At long last. Vindication. Sweet vindication.
Compensation payable
(23) What is the proper measure of each plaintiff’s loss and damage, having regard to the answers to questions 15 to 22 above?
Mr Uren will be awarded damages in the amount of $92,000, comprising $46,000 for past loss of amenity, and $46,000 for aggravated damages. Mr Zakula will be awarded damages of $168,000, comprising $84,000 for past loss of amenity, and $84,000 for aggravated damages.
I find that noise from the turbines on the wind farm has woken Mr Zakula or kept him awake on hundreds of occasions since June 2015. There were nights when he was unable to sleep at all. There were others when he left home and slept in his car at Walkerville beach to escape the noise. On any view, this amounts to a substantial interference with Mr Zakula’s enjoyment of his property at night — specifically, his ability to sleep undisturbed in his own bed in his own house on his own rural property. The interference is intermittent, but ongoing. While Mr Zakula is annoyed by the sound of the turbines during the day, it does not substantially interfere with his enjoyment of his property.
[following consideration of the evidence given by Noel Uren, her Honour held]:
I find that wind turbine noise disturbed Mr Uren’s sleep, waking him or keeping him awake, or both, on around 100 occasions between May 2015 and December 2018.
UPDATE: The final injunction is that Bald Hill Operators have just 90 days to figure out how to abate the noise that keeps the plantiffs awake. Perhaps there will be some combination of certain weather events and particular turbines that allow the wind farm to partially operate at night. But the judge admits “no one knows” what that is, which is really quite the crime. If the management can’t find a partial conditional way to operate they will just have to shut the turbines at night. They’ve had years to figure something out, and clearly have done nothing, so it will be a scramble now.
It’s dodgy science from beginning to end
The wind farm operator claimed that they measured the background noise before and after construction of the wind farm. However they found the noise levels were improbably lower after the wind turbines were operating.
“It is possible that the sound levels recorded were affected by construction activities, including heavy vehicles on Buffalo-Waratah Road.”
[The more likely cause is that MDA did what it always does: it placed its noise loggers close to large trees and/or under bushes during pre-construction noise data gathering (thereby raising the average noise levels at all wind speeds) and, when it returned to gather operational noise data, it placed its noise loggers well away from trees, bushes and other solid objects (thereby lowering average noise levels at all wind speeds, even with the contribution from wind turbines, if, indeed, any of them were, in fact, operating at the time). It’s the oldest trick in the book and it’s been used by MDA and others for years, all over Australia. The other clever trick played by the operator, in this case, was withholding the raw data from the plaintiffs’ acoustic experts, Dr Bob Thorne and Les Huson. Whereas, they were happy to provide the raw data to their own boy, Chris Turnbull, the plaintiffs’ acoustic experts were deliberately deprived of the opportunity to assess and review that data. Her Honour was scathing about that conduct]
The MDA wouldn’t provide the data (even under discovery of documents) and wouldn’t explain the “filtering” they used on the data. The plantiffs were “stunned” to find that the data they had requested did exist and was now being used against them:
Dr Thorne and Mr Huson both said that they did not know how MDA had filtered its background data, because they had never seen MDA’s datasets. Mr Turnbull volunteered that he had asked for and analysed the raw background data for locations 19, 61 and 66, and had satisfied himself that they had applied the same filtering to both pre-construction and operational data. Dr Thorne was ‘stunned’ to learn that this raw data had been given to Mr Turnbull, when he had asked for the same information 18 months previously and it had never been provided. The raw background data was apparently not discovered by Bald Hills, or produced by MDA in answer to a subpoena served on it in May 2020.
The judge described this as “unsatisfactory” and would not accept Mr Turnbulls opinion, given that the plantiffs had not has access to the data.
Many witnesses describe the effects of wind turbine noise:
Mr Jelbart said that his experience is ‘much worse’ inside his home than outside, and is particularly bad at night. Sometimes, the turbines are louder than his television, even after he has turned the volume up. He often wears earplugs to bed, however he is still woken up during the night. He attributes this sleep disturbance — which he said he has experienced for about the last six years — to the noise from the wind turbines. He sometimes wakes up with a headache. In an attempt to block out some of the noise, he has moved to a room in the back of his house, and has planted some trees.
According to Mr Jelbart, the noise at Tenement A is ‘horrific during the day’. He said that if he has to spend a couple of hours there, he will either put in earplugs or leave the property altogether. He described the noise at Tenement A as a ‘pulsing throb’, sometimes with a ‘whoosh’, and often with a ‘gearbox noise’, a ‘grinding sort of mechanical noise’, which signals that there is a gearbox in need of attention. The noise varies depending on where he is on the property and which way the wind is blowing. Mr Jelbart said that although he can always hear the noise when the wind is blowing, it is particularly bad when the breeze is gentle and when the wind is coming from the south or the south-west. He said that the noise seems to be worse in the winter months.
Mrs Jelbart said that when she is at home at night, when the wind has died down, the sounds from the wind farm can be very audible — ‘it can be a thumping, a groaning, a whirring, a grinding; you can get all of these sounds in five minutes and then it’s just on repeat, on repeat, on repeat’. She described the noise as having ‘a deep undertone to it which really sort of — it sort of gets in your head. It just vibrates through you.’ Like Mr Jelbart, she can hear the turbines over the sound of their television, even if the volume is turned up high. The noise wakes her up regularly during the night and in the early hours of the morning. When she wakes up, she often has a headache. Because she experiences so much tension, she has taken to wearing a mouthguard to bed to protect her teeth.
Dorothy Fairbrother and her husband Don live and work on their farming property on Buffalo-Waratah Road, Tarwin Lower. The property is located between Mr Zakula’s house and where Mr Uren used to live. Mrs Fairbrother described the sound from the wind turbines as ‘a swishing, throbbing noise that just didn’t disappear’. She said that the noise is more prominent in the evening. It can be heard over the television at times, and so she turns up the volume of the television to camouflage the noise. She described the noise as being similar to ‘dripping tap syndrome’ that keeps ‘going and going and going’ at night time, and interrupts her sleep. She does not hear the noise every night. It is worst when the wind is blowing from the north-west, which occurs more in autumn and winter. During bad periods, which can last up to three weeks, her sleep is interrupted every night.
Mrs Fairbrother suffers from ‘bad headaches’ due to the noise of the turbines at night, for which she takes paracetamol and stronger medication when required. She does not take anything to help her to get to sleep – she tries to ‘just suffer it out’. She and Mr Fairbrother tried to alleviate the noise by double glazing the windows in their house, but that did not help a lot.
Don Fairbrother: …would wake up in the early morning with a really severe headache, and when he put his hearing aid in, he realised what was going on. When he woke at night with a headache he would take Panadol, but would always have trouble getting back to sleep. Even with his hearing aid out he was tossing and turning, having broken sleep, sensing the noise. Mr Fairbrother said that the noise is less audible in the summer period, and not the problem that it is in the wintertime.
Stuart Kilsby’s family lived on their farm in Tarwin Lower until they moved away in 2012 or 2013. Mr Kilsby’s father did not think they would be able to stay on the farm once the wind farm started operating due to the ‘noise issue’. Before then, Mr Kilsby had planned to build a house on the property, and had picked out a site overlooking the whole farm, with views of Bass Strait, the Inverloch inlet and Wilsons Promontory. He no longer plans to build that house.
After the turbines started spinning, Mr Kilsby’s father could not handle the noise and left the farming to his son. Mr Kilsby felt anxious to come and work at the farm, knowing that he would be hearing the noise all day. At the farm, he struggled to concentrate. He had difficulty getting the noise out of his head, even after leaving the farm. Sometimes, he had to leave the farm when the noise became really bad. He used to take his wife and young children to the farm for camping or picnics, but he no longer does this because he is concerned about the noise from the turbines.
Robert Soler … described the louder sounds as being like, ‘when you are beside a road busy of cars, you know, traffic or a river, something like that.’ He said that, when the sound is loud, he will often have trouble hearing what other people are saying, and will have to raise his voice, call the person or send them a text message. He said that the noise is worse when the wind is blowing from the east. The noise gets in his head and is constant; he gets ‘tired with that because it’s all the time the same noise’.
h/t to Paul Miskelly
REFERENCES
StopTheseThings has a much longer description and more information.
STOP THESE THINGS!
A 6 min compilation of the horrors of being near a wind subsidy farm.
Incidentally YouTube is shadow banning this video, i.e. making it difficult to find even if you type in the exact title.
https://youtu.be/zr3z_7iQ35s
480
How Right you are:
Stop These Things: Landmark Decision Vindicates Victims: Supreme Court Orders Total Wind Farm Shutdown
https://stopthesethings.com/2022/03/26/landmark-decision-vindicates-victims-supreme-court-orders-total-wind-farm-shutdown/
There’s a web page dedicated to that very idea. 🙂
30
There is a design out there that is quite and much less harmful to birds. But it is expensive. And if I do say so myself, looks cool.
00
I’m so happy these people got relief from a rare example of a fair judge, not an activist judge.
Let’s hope it creates a precedent allowing many other people to sue for harm caused by these civilisation-destroying machines.
540
The Bald Hills area is 14kms north of me, there’s a few of these “farms” around the area now, but as with all Green schemes only the very few benefit while the majority suffer, they ruin the aesthetics of a once beautiful countryside too.
570
Only for 3 months and only for the nearest turbines, while noise measurements are made according to the link of the decision posted above. Bald Hills will continue to operate day and night, with reduced output from those identified turbines
did anyone else besides myself read the judgement?
346
We can expect an appeal.
90
it would help if Australia did not have to rely on New Zealand for standards relating to noise from these wind farms.
As stated, the noise will be monitored, and that will provide the proof or otherwise of the noise abatement measures
235
Its a gearbox tonality issue.
25
Also the compression pulse as the blades pass the tower. That is a major problem, one that must remain hidden from the public.
“Environmentalists”(as if) say to only check sound frequencies, and not to worry about the destructive tones below that !
370
NO!
It’s the ILFN that comes from the blades causing the problem.
This is NOT regulated.
They only regulate dBA to 40.
And all other industry standards are 35dBA.
The wind industry had a big part in these regulations which were copied from the UK.
And they don’t even do environmental impacts on:
# Disruptive seed dispersal of weed species
# Disruption of under ground water flows
The industry is far from green.
The gearbox tonality is a minor problem.
300
Peter, I did read the judgement, and it’s not “for 90 days” it has been stayed 90 days. That’s to allow the wind farm managers a little time to test things to see IF there is any partial remedy.
UPDATE added to the post: The final injunction is that Bald Hill Operators have just 90 days to figure out how to abate the noise that keeps the plantiffs awake. Perhaps there will be some combination of certain weather events and particular turbines that allow the wind farm to partially operate at night. But the judge admits “no one knows” what that is, which is really quite the crime. If the management can’t find a partial conditional way to operate they will just have to shut the turbines at night is my reading of it. They’ve had years to figure something out, and clearly have done nothing, so it will be a scramble now.
The judge said it did not seem fair to allow them to continue to ruin sleep for another year, especially when they have had so long to improve things.
600
They have to show compliance with this:
https://www.epa.vic.gov.au/for-community/environmental-information/noise/wind-energy-facility-noise/wind-energy-facility-noise-and-the-law
Note: compliance is reported yearly, but bald hills has 90 days to either show compliance or take remedial actions to comply (turn off nearest turbines as an example)
116
But what if they finally do the tests and ensure compliance, and it still doesn’t solve the sleep problem. Ultimately, they are still a public nuisance, and if the official rules don’t even measure the right factors, this problem is not going away, and all the profiteers from windfarms should have done the right studies from the start.
They took a risk investing in a new untested technology which had obvious detrimental potential. They deserve to lose every cent and pay more in compensation.
240
Jo accurately states the issue;
“and if the official rules don’t even measure the right factors, this problem is not going away”
i.e. Our elected representatives are deliberately engaged in Misdirection on a huge scale.
Is that moral or legal behaviour?
20
Yes, Australia should have much tighter rules for these ugly environment-destroying industrial contraptions.
Greenies and their hangers-on don’t give two-hoots about the natural environment, so long as they can have their useless little erratic feel-good junk power.
Wind turbines should only be allowed on land designated as “industrial”… that is what they are.
And at least a couple of km from any human or animal habitation.
470
It would help if these wind towers were not completely useless except as money pumps for the owners.
470
It’s not a noise issue.
The reality is far worse and switching them off overnight is not resolving the problem of pulsing which overrides the Autonomic Nervous System.
Db readings are a deliberate misdirection.
KK
311
dB readings are also suspect in another way. dBs are about human hearing perception not damage.
dB is 10* the logarithm of the noise, not the noise volume but how the human ear perceives it. So ten times the volume
appears to humans as only twice as loud, even though it is much louder.
So each factor of ten in volume appear like +10, +20, +30. If human conversation is 60db, 80db is 100x louder
and at 84db you risk permanent ear damage. So db makes sense for human hearing but the rate of physical damage does not scale like this.
Low frequency vibrations are also strongly felt. A low throbbing noise will go through you like a base drum. You will feel it rather than hear it. And it can make you feel sick or permanently on edge. Animals can sense earthquakes for example and dogs start to bark. We humans may have the same sense where continuous loud low frequency noise makes people sick or disturbs their sleep, which is the same thing. And measuring it in db is not proportional to the effect. It relates to perceived volume by our human ears, not real volume.
130
A few houses up the street from me is a dude (40-something) who plays video games for 10 to 12 hour stints. He obviously has some serious sub woofers up in that place and the booming from explosions just goes straight through mine and my neighbours houses. But by that time the effect is pretty strange; it is a weird physical sensation combined with some upper harmonics of the fundamental. It makes me feel sick, giddy and disoriented. It is just plain horrible! When eventually he stops playing games, sometimes at midnight, the relief is just so stark. You feel quiet, peaceful, and realise just how permeating the sound actually is! It isn’t perceived as being loud because it really is so low frequency my ears barely hear it, but I sure do feel it.
I would imagine that the infra sound coming from these wind turbine is equally disturbing, but they really never let up. At least the man-child gamer goes to sleep from time to time…
160
And these very low frequencies are not as abated by walls, even masonry. They reverberate through buildings and could potentially amplify or concentrate, so you cannot shut out the noise. Only if you lived underground.
80
Coober Pedy’s the go then TdeF.
30
Coober Pedy would be great except the neighbours keep dynamiting new rooms.
10
You should not have to live with that; it is very unreasonable of your gaming neighbour to inflict that noise and deep sound onto you and the others nearby. Have you all tried to get the problem sorted out by your local council?
40
bels and decibels are power ratios.
Because it is a power ratio, it needs a reference power as part of the statement.
It’s a handy form of measurement because the reference power is contained in the statement.
N(bels) = log[10](P2/P1)
log[10] = log to the base 10
P1 = reference power.
Most common unit is the decibel (1/10th of a bel).
N[db] = 10 log[10] (P2/P1)
and a common reference power is the milliwatt:
N[dbm] = 10 log[10] (p/1mw).
ref: The Radio Designer’s Handbook
(fourth impression – with addenda) 1957.
ch. 19, p806 +
10
you really should keep up. Australian and NZ standards have been combined for years…so, yes, we do have to take regard of ASNZS standards
90
this one is not – do check first
07
Those farmers who are compensated for turbines on their property do not seem to have the same problems, and here is a guide to how it was done
https://energy.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2018-09/NSW_Farmers_-_Wind_Farm_Guide_For_Landowners_-_Jan13.pdf
Strange that adjacent farmers not getting compensated had problems isn’t it
242
Still no wind turbine near you, hey.
NIMBY !
Trying to deny the facts, and as usual, you have nothing.
260
‘the shills that run propaganda for the wind industry – including a former tobacco advertising guru – run the story that it’s only “jealous” wind farm neighbours who complain about wind turbine noise, “jealous” because they’re not getting paid; and that those who get paid to host them never, ever complain’
‘The Gares pocket $200,000 a year for the ‘pleasure’ of hosting 19 of these things; and, yet, make it very clear that it was the worst decision of their lives.’
https://stopthesethings.com/2015/06/15/sa-farmers-paid-1-million-to-host-19-turbines-tell-senate-they-would-never-do-it-again-due-to-unbearable-sleep-destroying-noise/
360
‘The Mortimers signed up with Babcock and Brown – which, after its 2009 collapse, phoenixed into Infigen – to host turbines on their property’
‘Since the turbines kicked into gear in 2005, the Mortimers have suffered from a familiar list of turbine related adverse health effects, including sleep deprivation, head and ear pressure and a range of other sensations’
https://stopthesethings.com/2015/02/02/david-mortimer-turbine-host-an-inconvenient-wind-industry-fact/
300
‘Leases with farmers who ‘host’ the turbines and so-called “good neighbour” agreements with their neighbours who would otherwise suffer the torment from incessant turbine generated low-frequency noise and infrasound without any compensation for their misery, all contain bullet proof gag clauses. Contractual terms designed to prevent any complaint or criticism of the wind power outfit in question, any of its activities, its wind turbines, the noise and shadow flicker they generate, anywhere, anytime, at all, ever.’
https://stopthesethings.com/2019/02/08/bound-gagged-wind-industry-shuts-down-community-complaints-using-punitive-gag-clauses/
260
I always wonder how far from reality you are living… 😀
110
Its not about the compensation, people have genuine grievances. NSW gets its guidelines from South Australia, ‘this is one of the strictest limits in the world. The noise threshold limits apply to surrounding landholders that are not associated with the wind farm (referred to as ‘receivers’).
11
Does that explain the difference between Vic and NSW in this regard?
06
Stop blabbing would you? Either the science of acoustics is solid and you agree or you are in denial.
Which is it?
61
On further reading it looks like Vic, NSW and SA are in lockstep. The senate committee had a lot to say about NZ.
https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Environment_and_Communications/Completed_inquiries/2010-13/renewableenergy2012/report/c04
10
I used to think it was only the ones who weren’t getting paid a subsidy that complained.
10
In Ontario, leaseholders signed gag orders. What does that tell you?
https://www.windconcernsontario.ca/2019/02/02/wind-company-gag-orders-hide-the-truth/
Does anyone know if gag orders were signed in Australia too?
00
When are you moving next to a wind turbine, or getting one built a few hundred metres away ?
Guaranteed power whenever the wind blows.
Or are you one of those NIMBY sort of people like Bob Brown.
250
“did anyone else besides myself read the judgement?”
Nah, just the fact that a judge has done something at all is enough.
220
How arrogant are these wind farm numpties, wouldn’t you think they would do whatever it took to keep folk onside, they could have shut down a few of the nearest windmills after peak hour, say 9 pm and restart them at 6 am, out of 52 mills, 4 or 6 idled wouldn’t make much difference, would it.
How smart was the the Wind farm commissioner, the spruiker for the industry, offering to ‘enlighten’ the judge as to how marvelous the windmills are, she put him in his place quick smart.
230
“Refusing to be cowed by the operator’s threats” is correct usage Jo; the last instance of this solecism was an utterance of Daniel Andrews some weeks back thinking he was bigging himself up and showing leadership by saying “I won’t be cowered…”
161
Maybe he was worried that if he used the correct pronunciation, “cowed”, that he risked being mistaken for a four legged mooey.
140
Meanwhile in Germany there is a grass roots uprising.
‘Germans across the country have become horrified as idyllic forests are falling victim to wind energy industrialization. Delicate ecosystems have been blighted and once quiet forests have since been disturbed forever. The Reinhardswald, also known as “Grimm’s Fairy Tale Forest” in the state of Hesse has most recently fallen victim to wind park industrialization madness.’ (Notrickszone)
280
Link ?
24
Try NoTricksZone:
https://notrickszone.com/2022/03/26/leading-environmental-group-nabu-now-vigorously-opposes-wind-parks-in-german-forests/
You are welcome!
110
The vandals are despoiling the UK environment, while providing only 4% of energy to the system
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10657721/Madness-worship-wind-despoil-glorious-countryside-add-6bn-household-bills.html
60
Try WUWT
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/02/04/green-wrecking-ball-germany-clearing-undisturbed-1000-year-old-forest-make-way-for-massive-wind-park/
10
“Leading Environmental Group NABU Now Vigorously Opposes Wind Parks In German Forests”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/03/27/leading-environmental-group-nabu-now-vigorously-opposes-wind-parks-in-german-forests/
30
As an Environmental Auditor I questioned the Victorian EPA on why their audits of wind farms only covered noise and not the damage done to our bird and bat populations, or the wholesale clearing of land to make way for the monster vanes through our forests. The answer was that was DELWPs responsibility – but I have not seen much in the way of protests at the environmental damage done in their construction and only a protest at the linking of the solar farms in western Victoria to the Grid. Since the Cherry Hills wind farm was completed around 3 years ago – I havent seen a single Wedgetail Eagle over our place – having seen several a year up to that time. Yes – not a big sample – but when will we draw the line over this? It seems you cant construct a new mine if there is a vulnerable species of frog or lizard – but it is OK to smash your way through to put these things up.
60
When will the government evaluate all the so called renewable energy solutions on a life cycle CO2 basis. Anything else is simply a fraud. To say solar and wind are renewable without the evaluation of the lifecycle CO2 is garbage. It is feel good virtue signaling fraud. By the way Im not so sure that plant food CO2 is that bad myself.
330
🙂
90
Since the IPCC’s claimed climate sensitivity defies the laws of physics, specifically COE, which is the most basic of all laws, how can you expect anything rational from the rest of the bozo’s on the wrong side of the science?
FYI, the specific violation is that they claim the next Joule of forcing will result in 3-4 Joules of surface emissions while the average Joule of forcing results in only 1.62 Joules of surface emissions. Neither the climate system, feedback or pixie dust can accomplish this differentiation. Joules are immutable, Joules are the units of work, Joules of input are absolutely linear to Joules of output and the IPCC has no power to override these most basic facts of physics.
One of the many tricks they use to enable this deception is to incrementally replace a demonstrable linear relationship between forcing and surface emissions with a imagined fake linear relationship between forcing and the surface temperature.
130
This story is a few months old, but we can see the crux of the matter.
‘The Supreme Court heard that Infrastructure Capital Group, owners of Bald Hills Wind Farm, received an $11.7 million damages payment from the turbine’s manufacturers due to a gearbox tonality issue.
‘The manufacturer, Servion, told them about the malfunction in 2017. However, the wind farm continued to operate and under cross-examination Infrastructure Capital Group director James Arthur admitted none of the turbine gearboxes had been repaired or replaced since 2017, in part because the manufacturer became insolvent in 2019.’ (The Age)
210
“a gearbox tonality issue.”
Is that a sophisticates way of saying, grinding and whining.
280
Another major issue is the infra-sound compression pulses as the blades pass in front of the tower.
Wind turbine apologists definitely don’t want that to be monitored !
240
Correct.
If it was simply a gearbox then it should have been replaced.
No difference to a muffler on a car.
131
Why replace the gearbox when it is only the neighbours complaining? They would be expensive.
You guys have indicated that you are one with operators who don’t give a flying fig.
112
A gearbox on an industrial machine is not something expected to be a regular replacement item but I understand gearbox failures are common on wind turbines.
190
Agree,….but these gearbox’s weigh 50-60 tons, built to handle 2 MW (3000 hp), and huge levels of Torque . All on the top of a 80 mtr tower .
They are burried in the heart of those windmills, and a mega task to change.
20
” infra-sound compression pulses as the blades pass in front of the tower.”
Thanks for that. Now I’ll have something to search-up on the internet.
I got that sort of pulse in a car with a side window partly down.
I can guess the physics of this because the inside of the car is an interior space, and the opening creates a disturbance somewhat like a musical wind instrument.
140
Groups of turbines with slightly out of phase blades would produce extra low beat frequencies.
50
Groups of turbines with slightly out of phase blades would produce extra low beat frequencies.
Whoomp whoomp whoomp,bzzzzzzzzzzzzz whoomp whoomp whoomp.
50
No El Gordo. It’s not old news.
The Judgement was handed down on March 25, 2022.
260
More correctly, October last year the story broke in The Age.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/wind-farm-owners-denied-turbines-were-too-loud-yet-claimed-compensation-for-them-20211007-p58y45.html
03
Obviously that wasn’t the Supreme Court Judgement I’m talking about.
30
Okay, point taken.
10
Wind subsidy farms represent industrial scale vandalism of the environment.
Here are some videos of wind subsidy farms I have recorded.
This first horrow is not a wind farm but a stand alone turbine owned by a commercial establishment:
https://youtube.com/shorts/a4md5YS-51M
How would you like to be a neighbour to that? (I don’t know why the video turned itself sideways.)
This one is at Stockyard Hill. The countryside has been devestated.
https://youtu.be/obMDlcFNX8s
This one is at Toora.
https://youtube.com/shorts/NSt2QnvmasQ
Here is another at Toora.
https://youtube.com/shorts/eujRIOjVge0
90
It amused me not long ago when former founder and leader of the Greens, Bob Brown, lodged a complaint against planning approval for a wind turbine business installation on hills not far from his property in Tasmania, he was unhappy about them ruining the landscape and outlook from his home.
30
I have yet to hear what the net benefits of wind farms are, as far as I can tell they are merely symbolic, some kind of bizarre symbol for the Green Left. They must give Leftists a warm and fuzzy feeling when they see turbines spinning away on a distant hill or something.
180
Haven’t you heard everyone demanding we get to net zero? Windfarms are pretty much there.
20
In who’s opinion?
00
Like most people talking about net zero, I didn’t say net zero *what*. However, you did ask about benefits.
Maybe I made the sarchasm a bit wide this time so, to be clear, the bolded words are my answer to your original question.
00
As I have noted on many Occasions:
This is not a noise issue.
It is far worse than “Noise”.
It is the VLF pulsing that overrides the central nervous system.
The use of the term noise is designed to throw off the complaints; it is Not Noise which is measured in decibels.
Noise is perceived largely through the ears; VLF pulsing dominates the CNS when it enters the lungs and also works on the largest organ in the body: The Skin.
The whole business is disgusting misdirection about the real issue, and to think it’s being done by “nature worshipers” just makes the hypocrisy greater.
Money, money money. And lies.
KK
390
It’s interesting that many folks refer to measuring in Decibels, where in fact dB is a power ratio and not a measurement. The often-used measurement unit for sound is dBA, which is both a sound power ratio measurement, related to a defined sound level, AND a filtered power measurement. The sound level is I think, a mosquito at 2metres (I kid you not), and the filter curve is adjusted to match the average response of the human ear.
But this is USELESS for measuring infrasound radiation from a wind turbine, and NEVER be used. In fact, using an Acoustic Meter measuring in dBA is I believe a deliberate attempt to “prove” everything is ok, when in reality it’s not.
81
Yes.
When the major trauma from wind turbine action is nausea, aka sea sickness, and longer term heart trouble this is not a noise issue.
Just imagine being fitted with an inflatable vest covering the entire torso and then having the pressure valve releasing and re-inflating sixty times a minute.
That’s about the same as our pulse rate and that override damages the heart lung brain system.
Heavy machinery and truck and train drivers also get shaken by the pulsing of the equipment they’re operating; they get heart trouble.
I hate being sea sick and the misrepresentation of this as noise is ugly.
KK
71
Would the operator still be getting paid for power they MIGHT have generated + credits?
200
Yes, I’d like to know of taxpayers/consumers will be picking up the tab for the useless intermittent power not produced.
180
It is not usual in Australia for curtailed output to be compensated. There is some compensation around transmission faults and constraints but the wind generators are exposed to the wholesale market and will voluntarily curtail when the price is more negative than the current LGC spot price.
The Q4 2021 AEMO reports puts paid curtailment around $8M for system strength issues. This is about 20% of the total curtailment averaging 375MW for Q4 or 9.4% of capacity.
https://aemo.com.au/-/media/files/major-publications/qed/2021/q4-report.pdf?la=en
30
This site isn’t very phone-friendly
22
I almost always use it with my phone.
Also, some browsers offer an option of a simplified view, although I don’t use that.
50
When scrolling I often hit the “reply”. link 🙁
50
Yes I find that annoying but at least it can be cancelled fairly easily. An app specially designed for Jo’s blog site would be one way to solve that issue (option to disable replies). Anyone willing to develop one for her?
30
Rod. Sorry, I thought the big upgrade a year ago would have improved phone friendliness. This is a bit off topic here. But I’d like more information.
Krishna, perhaps we can shift the “reply” link but I’m not sure where to move it to?
110
Being my curmudgeon self:
I always use a computer with 2 monitors and have multiple windows open. As I started reading this post I used Google Earth to learn the location of the Bald Hills Wind facility and how far the houses are from the closest tower.
A use DuckDuckGo to check things from the posts or comments that I do not know. This happens a lot. I sometimes use the “image search” that Google provides if a photo or image is presented that I’d like to learn more about.
I also (mostly) use a text document to write, and then copy and paste that to the comment box.
My set-up isn’t for everyone, but it works great for me.
Your site is a wonderful news – and learning environment – when I use it this way.
Thanks.
210
I use a double screen with 10 square feet of real estate too. 🙂 I had to cope with a single screen last November-December for two months and it was horrible.
But lots of people use phones. I want to reach them…
80
Actually, I prefer the layout of this site over most others. OK, I do knock the wrong button at times (especially on my ‘phone) but I happily read on a tablet most of the time and on a laptop when I sit up at my desk. I’d rather Jo kept things much as they are. I found the new ‘improved’ WUWT less user friendly than it used to be, but that’s just me, I expect.
20
At least, WUWT uses nested comments like Jo has here. I find it a hopeless effort to remember what’s going on in one of the longer threads on New Catallaxy, for example where there is no nesting.
20
You might like to put more distance between the thumbs up and down buttons which has been mentioned previously. Great site otherwise.
30
No reason for me to change s.th., thanks, as I can cancel reply. So often I don’t use the phone for browsing here, I prefer the PC instead.
20
Yes I dont bother on a phone. It’s an old school style blog, looks like its from the 1990s (as all blogs do). But that’s ok, it’s too wordy for the small screen anyway.
20
Hotcopper has a new, purpose built platform, works really well with phone friendliness. Pity it’s such a terrible site. Probably too expensive and overkill for Jo but maybe a BIG FUNDRAISER??
00
Well this is most interesting.
Im pretty sure said Case law could well be applicable not only here in Canada, but in all commonwealth countries..??
One would surely hope so.
More Pls – Faster Pls
The Only thing “Green” electrical wind has done is Triple +++ our rates while destroying landscapes World wide & causing a serious disposal issue vis a vis Carbon Fibre wind turbine blades among others.
Typical COMMUNIST garbage.
210
The picture shows cows apparently happily munching on pasture around the windfarm. One indicator of the damage from infrasound that should be assessed is how it affects the milk productivity. This would be a quantifiable indicator of biological damage.
This talk by Mariana Alves-Perera goes from the physics of measuring sound to quantifiable physiological pathology.
https://livestream.com/itmsstudio/events/8781285/videos/196181579
50
That talk is very instructive and well worth taking on board.
10
A cow is a stomach on four legs, well, four stomachs actually.
10
The entire edifice of Climate Change and Renewable Energy has been constructed to destroy western economies and pave the way for One World Socialist Government. It is working, and individual cases will not change history.
210
It won’t take Dan long to retro legislate in favour of windmills or a forced sale of the affected land! He’s unscrupulous!!
130
The Queensland government did something similar when the V8 Supercars came to Townsville about 500m from my home. They simply legislated that the noise generated by the cars was not a nuisance and that nobody could take any action in any form against the races.
So we went away for a holiday while it was on. Those living next to windmills aren’t so lucky.
40
“So we went away for a holiday while it was on”
Silly people.. Front row seats .. and they ditch !! 🙂
10
But his Labor Government of Victoria has failed to grant planning approval for a gas fired generator proposed by the Federal Government, and of course without State processing and approval that project cannot proceed.
Another three were proposed for NSW and QLD sites, so far only one has approval in NSW for the Hunter Valley.
One coal fired HELE power station the Federal Government proposed for NTH QLD, and offered to underwrite the financing, is also awaiting State approval.
40
How to do it, the WA example-
The motor racing circuit near Perth Airport was closed after one complaint of noise.
Noise from aircraft take-offs and landings at the airport is much greater in the residential areas, but exempt from the noise legislation.
10
What’s very interesting is the award of aggravated damages. In Australia the award of aggravated damages is sonrare that it is almost never even asked for.
For there to be an award of aggravated damages the judge must have made findings that the behaviour of the defendant was egregious both in the initiating events and in the conduct of the litigation.
It’s a really big deal, especially for prospects on appeal
180
I’ve stood near wind turbines at Bridgewater, Vic, (just west of Portland) when the turbines were turning.
The noise was like a jet aircraft at an airport idling its engine running an auxiliary power unit.
I wouldn’t like to put up with that noise all day, let alone all night.
141
Brandon will not like this, he’ll have his media do yet another blackout then tell us to follow the science, only his ‘fact-checkers’ know the truth
70
These dilute, unreliable TOXIC disasters have a lifespan of about 20 years and always pollute the environment above and below the ground FOREVER.
Why wasn’t this taken into account in the judgement?
Here’s Mark Mills factual video about these disasters + the Solar idiocy as well. Only 5 minutes of your time and packed with real data about these TOXIC environmental disasters.And a full transcript of the video can be found at the link.
Hasn’t Putin’s war against Ukraine taught us anything about clueless dilute energy sources? Hopefully Europe is waking up, but how long before Aussies also start to wake up to these dangerous,polluting fantasies?
https://www.prageru.com/video/whats-wrong-with-wind-and-solar
100
It’s no wonder Brother Brown didn’t want them anywhere near his property, and something else I just noticed reading the judgement, are the windmills being used to to balance the grid by motoring them when there is no wind, why would that be done.
70
IIRC the fan bearings go ack willie if they are not turning due to loading problems
80
There is Brinelling of the bearing surfaces if the wind doesn’t blow so power is used to slowly turn the fan blades the 70% of the time the wind isn’t blowing.
110
Ack willie? Are you trying to impress us with your use of technical jargon?
30
That from a previous Australian phonetic alphabet – translates as “absent without” and you ought to be able to complete
11
No, not to “balance the grid”,… but to prevent damage to their main bearings and shafts from static loads on non rotating machinery.
Many windfarms have their own gas powered generators to supply this power if necessary.
90
P2V7 Neptunes, fully fuelled on standby for search and rescue calls had to be moved every few hours to protect the wheel bearings. Not being a framie I don’t know details.
10
If one of these monstrosities were near me, I would not only be annoyed by the audible and infrasound noise, and the whoosh-whoosh-whoosh nature of it, I would also be annoyed by the shadow flicker, the destruction of the countryside’s appearance, the destruction of trees for clearance around them, the destruction of bird and bat life, the poverty they induce in poorer people due to the expensive power they produce and also the knowledge that these things represent a war against science and reason and our civilisation in general.
220
Now let’s prepare a class action for visual pollution, intermitten power, high electricity costs, loss of sensible land usage, loss of airborne lives and cost of diesel fuel for the essential backup generators.
110
OK, ..but who is going to underwrite that legal action ?
10
Whether it’s windmills or anything else the Left do, the common themes are:
*Things become more expensive for regular people.
*Things become less convenient for regular people.
*The Elites are enriched.
*There are always adverse consequences, one might say “unintended consequences” but since the consequences are easy for a thinking person to envisage, one has to conclude they are intentional.
*They destroy nearly everything they interfere with.
120
We’ll see. I notice many citizens are realizing they are being fed nonsense. Politicians are mainly uninformed.
If some of the few journalists that are capable of understading the difference between empirical science and consensus address the issues the class action could become huge.
When the issues I raised are explained calmly and logically to the gullible they become angered by the incompetence of government.
We raised plenty for Peter Ridd.
The windmills are ugly, Power bills hit hip pockets personally.
I think this class action proposal would gain huge support bcause the promotion of simple obvious facts would open many apathetic eyes.
To join the class action make a donation.
60
Then we do solar panels. Most panels after about 13 years create a permanent resistance in your home. That means toxic waste removal. For net zero 2030 you don’t want panels before 2028. Then there is supposed to be a 2050 target so more toxic waste and a replacement in 2048.
Not your problem you’ve probably died falling off the roof to keep your panels working.
41
Accordong to the Wikipedia entry, this fan farm has a “projected” capacity factor of 40.69%.
That seems unusually high.
What is the real amount?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald_Hills_Wind_Farm?wprov=sfla1
60
Im sure that 40.69% is a carefully calculated figure using many expensively researched data values , collated into a complex formula to result in a wildly optimistic “guesstimate” ,..which could be validated by publishing it into a business prospectus for the funding proposal !
…better known as a. “S.W.A.G.” ( simple wild ass guess!)
70
Im sure Tony could give us an accurate accurate CF.
70
David, just as an exercise, I checked that Capacity Factor figure out.
The figure was used right from day one of the proposal, was also used at the commissioning date, and has not been updated since, still showing as ‘projected’, huh, now after 7 years of operation.
I could not find any record of how much actual generated power the plant has produced for each and all of those intervening years, and I tried many different word structures for the search.
I did however, do the physical and time consuming exercise for calculating the total output from this wind plant across each separate day, to give me the Capacity Factor for the last Month, all of March so far, currently, 27 days.
The Capacity Factor for this plant for those 27 days is 34%.
Tony.
180
Thanks for all that work Tony.
70
The general figure for any land based wind installation is around that 30% capacity factor- seems that is a figure that can be applied world wide. Offshore CF nudges up to 40% ( or more) -hence, that is why we have a push for offshore wind towers in Victoria. Basically, like always, we’re just copying what is being done in the rest of the world. I think also due to local community opposition like this Bald Hills situation. Stick them off shore and there are less people to complain. Personally, I would like to see them installed off Manly, St Kilda beaches or main beaches in all the capital cities. Then would you hear some whingeing!!
80
Incidentally the Bald Hills Fan Farm is privately owned by Infrastructure Capital Group.
80
One effect of this ban will be on the Bald Hill owners revenue because wind turbines are said to generate more at night.
Something to do with less turbulence in the wind from ground heating.
Less money for the Bald Hills owners and turbines getting close to their expected life? Should be some spare parts being sold off soon.
50
Here is Reneweconomy’s view of proceedings.
https://reneweconomy.com.au/wind-farm-ordered-to-make-less-noise-at-night-in-unprecedented-court-ruling/
60
Quite a good summary, hits all the important points
42
Interesting points..
Only 2 MW (nameplate) for each generator ?….there are/ were much higer capacity units available ..?
And…ongoing, unresolved, issues with gearbox noise…a manufacturing fault ?
Tha could be a big headache if all 50+ units are affected.
40
And, from another source reporting proceedings earlier in the trial..
It makes interesting reading !
https://sgst.com.au/2021/09/wind-farm-cover-up-exposed/
So the Operators were receiving compensation payments from the manufacturer for defective gearboxes, but chose not to address the issue…presumably because it was a problem on most of the turbines..and would have eaten in to their profits.
the Australian manufacturers ( Senvion) have since gone broke !
60
A lot of the commenters on the RuinEconomy page refuse to believe the windmills make any appreciable noise at all.
60
The bias of the mind. Amazes me that environmentalists would usually protest noise, sub noise, and any said effects from industrialization. (And that’s what this is, industrialization of the countryside). But this time they are pro industrialization because it suits their other argument. The environment and effects on people can go hang, because it’s all now nonsense apparently. Humans fail at objectivity yet again, and so glaringly.
The other one is low population where the environmentalists have given up on that as it doesn’t suit their other agenda being very pro immigration. Though they do hold true when they suggest anglo westerners stop breeding for population, I must admit.
50
It is past time for Wind generators to be held responsible for their infrasonic pollution.
Greens tout “pollution” as a cudgel for anything they don’t happen to like.
Well, now, have a subsonic listen to your own blather, eh?
Perhaps there will be legislation to account for wind turbine disposal and site remediation upon decommissioning in a meaningful way, as well, the same for solar panels? How about remediation fees for all of the toxic leaching from their disposal wastes and from their mining origins?
Live by the sword, die by the sword.
60
From Journal of Environment Pollution and Human Health
Infrasound is very low frequency acoustic wave with frequencies ranging from 0.01Hz to 20 Hz. Environmental infrasound emanates from earthquakes, mountain valleys, volcanoes, coal mines, atmospheric wind turbulence, and oceans. Man-made infrasound is from transportation and industrial systems. Scientific evidence has established that infrasound can be very harmful and indeed dangerous to human life.
Ban volcanos? ban mining?
06
How would volcanos be banned?
And please identify a mine that is located close to where people live?
50
Broken Hill
04
Fair enough, a mining town that was built around the mine but mining today is not close and during my visits on and off since the 1970s there has been no noise problem.
Broken Hill Underground
Broken Hill is Australia’s longest-lived mining city. The city’s fortunes have come and gone against an extreme economic background of boom and bust which continues today. Most Australians know BHP Billiton, the world’s largest mining company, but fewer people know that BHP actually stands for Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited. Broken Hill is where it began for BHP in 1885, when it began mining the massive ore body containing the world’s richest source of silver, lead and zinc. The ‘Syndicate of Seven’ – the men from Mt Gipps Station – put the city on the map when they discovered ore on an isolated ‘broken hill’ in 1883. That same ore body became the largest single source of silver, lead and zinc ore ever discovered on earth, generating over $100 billion in wealth.
Day Dream Mine tour
As close as you can come today to the tough working conditions underground is by touring the Day Dream Mine, located 33km from Broken Hill near Silverton. Visitors go down in safety and relative comfort, but the tour offers enough of the real thing for you to be aghast at the harshness of the life miners once led.
40
Peter Fitzroy bolding here
Umm, Coal mines ….. Broken Hill?
Open mouth, change feet!
Tony.
90
Anton, I was asked to supply a mine near a house, I chose Broken Hill.
To answer your question Managloola mine, Mt Arthur (100 meters from the Edinglassie Thoroughbred stud) and BHP Mt Arthur Coal.
I understand your desire to denigrate, but please try to follow the threads.
08
“Managloola mine, Mt Arthur”
1. There is no such place
2. Is nowhere near Broken Hill even it there was
3. “Mangoola Coal” is about 12-13km from Edinglassie Thoroughbred stud as measured on Google Earth
Please try to get at least one thing correct this year !
30
Mangoola Open Cut – Glencore Australia
01
correcting yourself, after being shown to be incorrect.
funny. 😉
20
No-one needs to bother to denigrate you, Peter.
Your posts do an admirable job all on their own.
10
Broken Hill is a mining town.
It was build around the mines.
The mines are is primary reason for being.
Now… Point us to a “wind turbine town”, where people deliberately build a town around wind turbines. 😉
Never going to happen.
Wind turbines too close to a town would destroy the town’s existence.
Wind turbines are like that. Give very little, Take and cost a lot… Like any leftist or leftist ideology.
50
A huge difference between mining towns built to accommodate mining personnel and a normal country town or provincial city.
40
“Man-made infrasound is from transportation and industrial systems”
OMG ! You still show you are clueless what you are talking about.
Infrasound from those source is small, for very short periods and very irregular.
The infrasound from wind turbine is highly regular and at frequencies that resonate in the human body.. incessantly.
Do at least try to understand the difference. !
60
Mines by definition are below the land surface and the sound penetration is moderated by the type of geology between the mine and any permanently located human. Of course some materials may transmit sound more effectively than others but hardly a direct comparison to direct line of sight to a wind turbine. A sound engineer be able to advise further.
10
Not that big a problem. All they need to do is add some solar panels. Those don’t make any noise, so they can run at night when the turbines are turned off.
100
😉 😉
20
Seems the diesels silence much better if the exhaust is under water
20
Sometimes the actual sufferers of noise from wind machine power installations (pronounced WIMPY’s) are the actual landowners themselves. But because they are receiving up to $10 k per turbine per year they don’t complain!! Waubra WMPE near Ballarat. One farmer I know has 3 towers on his property, so not a large income. Years ago he had to buy a house in Ballarat because when the wind blows from the South West at certain speeds it was impossible for him to reside in the farm house due to the low level noise. Let’s not call them “wind farms” either- that makes them sound all cute and cuddly.
60
The Greens are masters of creating feel good descriptions, like National Parks lands set aside for future generations. No mention of people now.
Wind and solar “farms”, the indoctrinated children must think they grow out of the ground.
30
Wind utilising energy factories: WUEF…like the sound of the blades. There’s another ‘u’ there: unreliable. But it didn’t fit.
20
This is a great win !
Wonder how ABC are reporting it.
Trust that there is no appeal . .
51
Wonder how the ABC are reporting it?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-25/bald-hills-wind-farm-to-pay-damages/100938656
30
Fair and balanced, with respect to the judgement, focussed on the human angle.
10
Wind Turbines (and Solar) is a subject that angers many Australians including me but over time we tend to forget the history, so beginning with the IPCC Kyoto Conference and Agreement following the Howard Coalition Government created a renewable energy trial target of 3 per cent but over a decade later a Labor Government increased that trial target to about 30 per cent and introduced a carbon tax and a renewable energy surcharge to electricity bills, later abolished by the Abbott Coalition Government and they also made changes to the Renewable Energy Target. The Morrison Coalition Government legislated to end the RET payments by 2030, and other changes including new company law legislation to force greater electricity pricing competition between suppliers which stabilised and lowered electricity prices, but only a little.
The following link to a pro-renewable energy website explains the situation quite well;
https://reneweconomy.com.au/the-rapidly-disappearing-subsidies-for-wind-and-solar-in-australia-42300/
00
Remember that it was the Palmer United Party which, at Al Gore’s instigation, prevented the Abbott government from abolishing the RET
10
Can anybody remember the name of the wind turbine installation in Victoria that was subject of a post here a few years ago, the comment asked for advice on an Annual report released by the owners in which the shareholder were advised there would be no dividends paid for the past financial year, wind frequency was well below budgeted estimates and the cost of repairs and maintenance well exceeded budget expectations?
I was wondering how that business has been operating since, profit or loss.
30
I posted that. It is the community-owned wind farm, Hepburn Wind.
https://www.hepburnwind.com.au/
40
They seem to be behind in posting their annual reports which are not linked on their web page. The 2021 report you’ll have to Google “hepburn wind farm annual report” without quote marks.
20
Correction. The latest report is 2020.
10
Thank you David
30
The 2020 Annual General Meeting items are interesting, one the very poor shareholder’s dividend, another that batteries have been considered but are too expensive.
40
https://www.hepburnwind.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2020-AGM-Minutes-1.pdf
20
The Woke have complete contempt for the ordinary person. In this the governments that have fecklessly inflicted this horror on too many people are equally culpable.
40
Duck,
they have contempt for all of humanity.
They are hoping enough sacrifice of the less important will assuage that self contempt.
Think virgins thrown in the volcano.
However, gender assertation is verboten, so virgins (besides being rare), are unusable.
So now, as a result of wokeitarianism, all us lesser folk are in trouble.
10
Several posters above have mentioned land owners get paid A$10,000 per year for each monstrosity they host.
It’s gone up a lot, the figure used to be A$5,000.
It goes to show how much money these things earn at the expense of some of the world’s highest electtricity prices we now have in Australia. Up from some of the cheapest electricity twenty or so years ago.
50
I doubt it is related to the income from generation,…
…more likely the increase reflects the price required to persuade reluctant land owners to allow use of their land as more of these real issues become known.
40
It would be interesting to know how many land leases contain terms and conditions requiring the lessee to remove all equipment and foundations and return the land to the condition it was in.
Or did too many land owners see the revenue potential and ignore the negative future problems.
60
I think this ruling will reverberate around the world. It is not an activist ruling but an affirmation of people’s right to sleep without oppressive noise from people who make money in generating noise. And the oppressed residents generally preceded the windmills.
You would think the Greens would be against such land and vista hungry eco crucifixes in pristine countryside, but no. Except for former leader of the Greens Bob Brown who has no problem with windmills as long are they are nowhere near him.
What is it with Greens that they do not care how much CO2 is produced in China, that all rare earths are excavated in China without safety measures and windmills are built on other people’s property across the landscape kill countless birds, especially rare raptors? Green activism is the ultimate in total selfishness. Closet totalitarians like Justin Trudeau, leader of Canada’s Liberal Party. That redefines Liberals as fascists. Adoph Hitler was a vegetarian Green too.
90
Also, a lot of city people think wind farms look terrific from a distance. but close up they are ugly monstrosities.
40
No “city” people will ever live anywhere near them. !
20
As pointed out by a few journalists recently when very young school children performed outside Kirribilli House, North Sydney, protesting climate hoax, why don’t they travel to Canberra and protest outside the Embassy of China?
Their teachers are the real problem.
60
I wonder which of their parents dropped them off and picked them up from Kirribilli House… and in which of their SUVs they used 😉
40
The irony it burns! Crackle, phizz, spit!
10
So the windfarm received $11.7 M because of the gearbox issues, so they trousered that and continued with the noisy gearboxes, so you can see where they’re coming from., other windfarms won’t be impressed.
90
It’s bog standard venality and is the norm for renewables hucksters aspiring to be oligarchs and a fine illustration of how far Australia has lost its way; and now they’re talking up hydrogen as if to rub our noses in the ignorance of our population that has been fostered by our degenerated education system and is able to take the thermodynamic absurdity at its advertised value.
00
Les Huson is very good. He has been in the UK helping my friends and colleagues in the fight against wind farm noise.
40
Here is an excellent 28 min pro-science video about infraspund pollution from wind turbines.
I strongly recommend you try to find time to watch it.
https://youtu.be/ywWNx3OJyuo
00
Wind power, isn’t it great, UK at present, 0% wind, Flinders Island 1-2% wind, 99% diesel.
40
And 56% gas, 5% coal.. wind 0% !
Thank goodness for fossil fuels, say the Poms. !
https://gridwatch.co.uk/demand/percent
(How do you take a screen capture and post it, (Image button seems to need a https address) ?)
40
I note that while wind is 0%, solar is high. Which is very surprising.
One of the appalling tricks of the Green industry invented in Australia with the RET act and copied in the UK is the massive taxation of fossil fuels with certificates which retailers have to buy if they purchase fossil fuel electrons. The purveyors of green electrons from wind and solar get the cash handout directly in a so called ‘market’ so it is not called a Carbon Tax. Just a huge cash grab imposed by government in a way not seen since before Magna Carta and an injunction on payments ordered by the King to select friends of the king for nothing.
What this means is that if Green electricity is available anywhere, it is far preferred because it is always slightly cheaper because you do not have to pay the massive tax on ‘non eligible’ sources aka fossil fuels. For those you have to purchase ‘certificates’ from suppliers of green electrons.
This pushes up all electricity prices and increases the % of ‘cheaper’ Green electricity when in practice no one would buy such expensive unreliable products and electricity prices would plummet and solar and wind and wood pellets would not be viable.
40
The law in Australia is the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000 and subsequent fine tuning. And nowhere in it are two words. Carbon. And Tax. It was crafted by the evil Green Gnomes of Canberra and even the politicians have no idea how it works as they keep talking about introducing a Carbon Tax. Without this act, every windfarm and solar farm would close tomorrow. And it was copied in the UK. I would love someone to challenge the legality of this act in the Supreme Court as Westminster based governments do not have the power to force payments to third parties.
And if you want to see what is ‘eligible’ and ‘ineligible’ you have to find it hidden in Section 17. This skulduggery has cost Australians about $60Billion in cash handouts, maybe more.
30
And the Greens continue to attack the ‘subsidies’ on fossil fuel and coal and demand carbon taxes, when in fact all the billions in direct cash handouts are to are wind and solar owners.
30
[…] Victorian windfarm loses court case on noise, must turn off turbines at night! […]
00
It’s remarkably like the push for men in women’s sports. A very loud tiny group demand equity, when in fact what is at stake is women only sports for half the human population, even contact sports like Australian Rules Football and Rugby. Wait till they have to compete with men in dresses.
And a loud minority demand financial punishment of fossil fuel electricity providers when fossil fuels provide the bulk of the supply of electricity for Australia and always will without nuclear. Due entirely to man made Global Warming which has officially vanished with the drought to be replaced by Climate Change, which appears to be any weather at all.
One great success of the Greens in Australia is getting Premiers to order the blowing up and total destruction of coal power generation.
Compare with Germany and the UK where they have the sensible option of restarting these massive investments quickly, as is happening right now. In Australia, such power stations have been wiped out to prevent their reopening. And when China comes for our gas and coal, it will all still be in the ground as planned. That seems to be Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews private deal with China.
30
You will find Green senators and MPs will be in conference on laws to exempt wind generators from noise protection legislation which applies to everyone else. As an essential industry, which is not true. And all these windmills will have to be replaced soon enough. Who is going to pay for that?
30
When you jump too far to the left, problems and more problems as you move
too far from reality. Reality, it’s a bitch…sigh… It’s not easy being green.
00
Is there any science out there yet on if wind turbines can create atmospheric conditions similar to the wind conditions that spread the corona virus?
00
Night time is lowest electrical grid demand.
Low-demand electrical service is high-cost, low-price.
Every hour of turbine working life counts against its service life.
A turbine operator “lost” a law suit and must extend the service life of its government subsidized assets by curtailing operations of its lowest-priced service? Who won, again? What is the antipodean version of the phrase “crazy like a fox?”
10
Our GreenLeft ABC reports –
Alinta says court wind farm ruling will have ‘dramatic’ and chilling effect on renewable energy investment 25Mar22
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-25/chill-winds-for-renewable-sector/100940308
Alinta chief executive Jeff Dimery says – quote [“I think the magnitude of what needs to be achieved has absolutely been underestimated,” he said. “The narrative around what can be done and how it can be done, in my opinion, is being oversimplified to the community. “There’s a misconception that bringing more and more renewable energy into the market will reduce power prices over time.”]
Note!!! “There’s a misconception that bringing more and more renewable energy into the market will reduce power prices over time.”
40
Refreshing honesty.
00
Surely he ‘misspoke’.
20
I am not saying this was not the right decision. I just wonder how much noise it takes to say people cannot sleep. I went out to Carcoar in NSW to listen to the noise of these wind generators as I had read numerous reports in the local press about their noise – chiefly from people whose farms in Yass were not getting turbines. I went to the viewing deck and looked up the hill and could hear nothing from the generators. So then I said this is rubbish and drove up the road where the closest one was about 200-300 metres away. I could hear the whoosh of the blades. The Friesen cattle were calmly grazing around the base of the turbine oblivious to what ever noise was being emitted.
Given this decision, I would assume that had I been still living in my flat in Coogee, as I was in the late 60s, I could sue the butcher whose thermostat used to cut in and out and the freezer would then come on. I got used to the noise. It was right outside my bedroom window. Hell I am not even a manmade climate change person, so I think I can speak freely on the subject. It is the money.
10
David,
It’s far more complicated than that. The infrasound generated changes according to the wind speed and direction, the shape of the landfeatures, and the shape of the house. Even in one room, the noise can be fine, while 2m away the interference patterns or something combines to make it debilitating. Sometimes people would find it worst when they bent over. The scary thing is there are almost zero studies on this. But when nine houses (or some tiny number) were studied — and a wind farm complied, the people keeping the diaries could tell when the farms were operating at night, when the turbines were not visible. The effects could be detected for something like 8km in certain conditions.
And before you say “nine houses is nothing” — ask the better question — why haven’t they studied 1,000 homes? Because they don’t want the results. Obviously.
20
How did the people survive living within a mile of the clickety clack railways in the days before welded rails?
They were pleased to have the rail service.
00
Not the continual monotonous low/infrasound that wind turbines produce.
10
As I have previously said on this website…WIND TURBINES ARE NOT RENEWABLE (just like solar panels and giant batteries). They are made from metals and plastics, which are not renewable (just like solar panels and giant batteries). When technology ever solves the problem of DIRECT energy transfers from wind and solar to the electricity grid, then I’ll be living in a Star Trek fantasy world.
10