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According to this (highly interesting) paper I just read, it seems that the operating sounds of wind turbines come from the gearbox, which makes more sense to m

According to this (highly interesting) paper I just read, it seems that the operating sounds of wind turbines come from the gearbox, which makes more sense to me because the blades of offshore turbines are turning very slowly. Also according to the same paper, the operating noises of offshore wind farms are probably not significant. https://www.int-res.com/articles/meps2006/309/m309p279.pdf https://www.int-res.com/articles/meps2006/309/m309p279.pdf As an aside, I love discovering a researcher with such a delightful niche. How many people are out there researching "Acoustically mediated fin whale mating"? Amazing humans.

blackeyeblitzar 2y ago
My experience disagrees with that claim. But I suggest an easier way to verify this, which is to just go to YouTube and look at videos of the sound produced by wind turbines on land. You will hear the distinct loud woosh sound of the actual blades and not the gearbox. Personally, I feel a lot of the academic denial around this noise issue is from people with an activist goal.
- jeffbee 2y ago
  You seem to have missed the point of the research, which is all about underwater sound propagation.
- bee_rider 2y ago
  YouTube videos are not very difficult to edit. If you search YouTube for “noisy windmills,” I’m sure you’ll get… something. Anyway windmills are all over the place, lots of people have had the experience of being near them. If they make too much noise, that’s a problem of course, but I think lots of people can verify the existence of non-noisy ones by virtue of having seen them in person. So, sure, loud designs should be avoided since there are perfectly good alternatives.
  - teitoklien 2y ago
    > YouTube videos are not very difficult to edit. And academic papers are not difficult to fudge up with edited fraudulent data [1]. Even Ivy League colleges are committing rampant fraud sometimes for activism sometimes just to get attention and get more papers published. It’s sad that we’re at a time where academia is as untrustworthy as random videos on YouTube. But i agree with noiseless windmills part, they should be promoted more instead of noisy ones that will discourage more clean energy initiatives. [1](https://retractionwatch.com/ https://retractionwatch.com/)
    - bee_rider 2y ago
      I mean, nobody would say the academic publishing ecosystem is super healthy (every academic hates it, for one). But the existence of something like “retraction watch” points to the fact that these aren’t really comparable ecosystems. Nobody need bothers to catalogue the lies on YouTube because that’s an impossible and pointless task. The academic process has always been messy and political, and yet universities do keep churning out research and students.
      - teitoklien 2y ago
        > The academic process has always been messy and political, and yet universities do keep churning out research and students. The youtube process has always been messy and political, and yet new creators do keep churning out great content that people love watching and spreading awareness about various issues. :) The youtube show : “Undecided by Matt Ferrell” is my favourite
        ben_w 2y ago
        Lotta clickbait, too. They need it to keep earning, even if they don't like it. I recall Tom Scott saying there was one video he basically couldn't make, because the climax was switching on a big light, which was actually silent, but it felt wrong unless he dubbed a sound over that and such dubbing was against his editorial standard.
        2y ago
advisedwang 2y ago
Wind turbines are moving a lot faster than they appear. E.g. Vestas v164 [1] rotates only at max 12 times per minute so looks slow. But because it has 80m blades, the tip speed is up to 100 meters per second (230mph). That's 1/3rd the speed of sound! That can generate a lot of noise. [1] https://en.wind-turbine-models.com/turbines/1419-mhi-vestas-offshore-v164-8.0-mw https://en.wind-turbine-models.com/turbines/1419-mhi-vestas-...
- jeffbee 2y ago
  That explains why they would make broadband noises but not peaky high-q noises like the ones in the paper.

blackeyeblitzar 2y ago

My experience disagrees with that claim. But I suggest an easier way to verify this, which is to just go to YouTube and look at videos of the sound produced by wind turbines on land. You will hear the distinct loud woosh sound of the actual blades and not the gearbox. Personally, I feel a lot of the academic denial around this noise issue is from people with an activist goal.

jeffbee 2y ago
You seem to have missed the point of the research, which is all about underwater sound propagation.
bee_rider 2y ago
YouTube videos are not very difficult to edit. If you search YouTube for “noisy windmills,” I’m sure you’ll get… something. Anyway windmills are all over the place, lots of people have had the experience of being near them. If they make too much noise, that’s a problem of course, but I think lots of people can verify the existence of non-noisy ones by virtue of having seen them in person. So, sure, loud designs should be avoided since there are perfectly good alternatives.
- teitoklien 2y ago
  > YouTube videos are not very difficult to edit. And academic papers are not difficult to fudge up with edited fraudulent data [1]. Even Ivy League colleges are committing rampant fraud sometimes for activism sometimes just to get attention and get more papers published. It’s sad that we’re at a time where academia is as untrustworthy as random videos on YouTube. But i agree with noiseless windmills part, they should be promoted more instead of noisy ones that will discourage more clean energy initiatives. [1](https://retractionwatch.com/ https://retractionwatch.com/)
  - bee_rider 2y ago
    I mean, nobody would say the academic publishing ecosystem is super healthy (every academic hates it, for one). But the existence of something like “retraction watch” points to the fact that these aren’t really comparable ecosystems. Nobody need bothers to catalogue the lies on YouTube because that’s an impossible and pointless task. The academic process has always been messy and political, and yet universities do keep churning out research and students.
    - teitoklien 2y ago
      > The academic process has always been messy and political, and yet universities do keep churning out research and students. The youtube process has always been messy and political, and yet new creators do keep churning out great content that people love watching and spreading awareness about various issues. :) The youtube show : “Undecided by Matt Ferrell” is my favourite
      - ben_w 2y ago
        Lotta clickbait, too. They need it to keep earning, even if they don't like it. I recall Tom Scott saying there was one video he basically couldn't make, because the climax was switching on a big light, which was actually silent, but it felt wrong unless he dubbed a sound over that and such dubbing was against his editorial standard.
        2y ago

advisedwang 2y ago

Wind turbines are moving a lot faster than they appear. E.g. Vestas v164 [1] rotates only at max 12 times per minute so looks slow. But because it has 80m blades, the tip speed is up to 100 meters per second (230mph). That's 1/3rd the speed of sound! That can generate a lot of noise. [1] https://en.wind-turbine-models.com/turbines/1419-mhi-vestas-offshore-v164-8.0-mw https://en.wind-turbine-models.com/turbines/1419-mhi-vestas-...

jeffbee 2y ago
That explains why they would make broadband noises but not peaky high-q noises like the ones in the paper.