Position on noise annoyance from wind turbines

[Henrik Møller <hm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear colleagues

I want to announce a research position at our department. The position will be either a 2-year research assistant position or a 3-year Ph.D. stipend as agreed on. The successful candidate will work together with other staff members and industrial partners on a project on "Noise annoyance from wind turbines". A short project description is given below. The candidate will in particular be responsible for setting up and carrying out laboratory studies of annoyance.

The position is available from August 1. or soon after, and the application deadline is July 4. Please see the full announcement at our department web pages http://acoustics.aau.dk/ under "Positions".

Please feel free to distribute the information to possibly interested colleagues.

Best regards

Henrik Møller

Noise annoyance from wind turbines

In Denmark and abroad, erection of large wind turbines sometimes leads to adverse reactions from local society. This might prevent or delay projects for exploitation of wind power. One of the main reasons for these protests is fear of negative effects from noise, especially noise at low frequencies. For the moment there is only limited knowledge of the low frequency content in wind turbine noise and possible impacts. Thus, the risk of annoyance from low frequency noise can neither be confirmed nor disconfirmed.

The main purposes of the project are to:

• clarify whether noise from modern wind turbines has a significant content of low frequency noise/infrasound (or other characteristics which can be mistaken as such) and determine an appropriate method for outdoor noise measurements,

• determine methods for prediction/estimation of the indoor level of low frequency noise/infrasound and the relation between the indoor and outdoor noise levels,

• make an assessment of the annoyance of low frequency noise/infrasound from wind turbines, including an evaluation of the sound spectrum relative to the hearing threshold,

• determine the natural background noise level and investigate its influence on annoyance.

The project is expected to lead to greater validity in the assessment of noise annoyance from wind turbines, distance demands etc. for the benefit of citizens as well as electric power utility companies. Depending on the extent of the problem, the project can help wind turbine manufacturers focus their work against noise and include noise as a competitive parameter.

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Henrik Møller
Professor

Department of Acoustics

Aalborg University

Fredrik Bajers Vej 7 B5

DK-9220 Aalborg Ø, Denmark

Phone: +45 9635 8711 (direct)

Phone: +45 9635 8710 (department)

Phone: +45 9635 8080 (switchboard)

Fax: +45 9815 2144

mailto:hm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (personal)

mailto:acoustics@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (department)

http://www.acoustics.aau.dk/ (department)