The small wind turbines you’ll want in your back garden

A European Commission strategic plan wants to see 20% penetration of wind energy throughout the EU by 2020. The growing trend for decentralised energy generation by home and business owners could help meet this target using small and medium turbines. But they continue to divide opinion due to noise and health concerns
Opponents to wind turbines often claim that the noise and vibrations from the turbines affect their health, leading to sleep disturbance, headaches and a host of other problems. But is this backed up by evidence or a good example of the nocebo effect?

Igho Onakpoya, a medical doctor carrying out research at the Centre for Evidence Based Medicine at the University of Oxford, conducted a review of health and wind turbines, including 8 studies and 2,433 participants. Some evidence of health disturbance was found. “The higher the exposure, the higher the tendency for sleep disturbance,” says Onakpoya.

However, he points out that the studies included were not designed to robustly link cause and effect and all had moderate quality of reporting. Another drawback is that “almost all of the outcomes measured in these studies are subjective, you can’t really be sure that the exposure is causing the particular symptom,” he says.

Scientists say that turbine noise levels can depend on environmental conditions such as terrain and atmosphere, and also on the turbine design and functioning.

Read more: cordis.europa.eu