Change is often difficult, and as our society struggles mightily to reduce our consumption of fossil fuels — oil, coal, natural gas and gasoline — we see time and time again how difficult will be a comprehensive transition to an economy propelled largely with renewable energy sources.
I was reminded of this last week when I attended the public hearing at the Salem City Hall Annex, convened to discuss the possibility of erecting a large wind turbine on Winter Island. Mayor Kim Driscoll and the city's Renewable Energy Task Force have been working with consultants to study sites that could suitably accommodate a turbine of significant size and power output.
The proposal for Winter Island — the best of nine sites considered — is to build a 1.5 megawatt (or slightly greater) machine, which would stand about 260 feet tall at the hub of the blades, and roughly 382 feet tall at the tip of a blade at the top of its rotation. (For comparison, the tallest smokestack at the Salem power plant is about 500 feet tall.)
The energy output of the turbine would be roughly equivalent to the annual power needs of 300 to 400 average homes.
Unfortunately, there are not yet a lot of wind turbines installed in Massachusetts, and so most of us do not have familiarity with them. The questions of the citizens at the meeting — and the emotional opposition of some to the proposal — made it clear that there still exist many misconceptions about wind technology, and in addition, about what a sustainable energy economy will look like.
The biggest fear voiced by those residents who would live nearest to the turbine relates to the levels and character of the sound that would emanate from the machine.
But while a turbine indeed makes noise when it is spinning, the sound is solely a swishing noise created by the blades cutting through the air. And the strength of that sound falls off rapidly as the distance from the turbine increases.
Somewhat paradoxically, the larger a turbine is, the quieter it is. That's partly because the blades — which are really aerodynamic wings — of very large turbines spin more slowly than those of smaller machines.
At low wind speeds, the turbine would also be quieter. And at wind velocities of roughly 15 mph and greater, when the turbine would be spinning faster, the ambient sound of the wind itself would cause more background noise than the turbine.
It is probably safe to say that the Plummer Home for Boys — the residence closest to the proposed turbine 1,300 feet away — would only infrequently hear it, and even then it would be barely audible. The next closest single-family homes are about 1,700 feet away and it would be exceptional if their occupants ever heard the turbine.
But there is no need to take anyone's word for this. There are new, large turbines in Ipswich, Newburyport, Medford and Hull. If citizens want reassurance about the sounds of these machines, they should visit one of these locations on a windy day. Stand 1,000 feet back from the turbine and you won't hear much, if anything.
Similarly, the concerns of citizens that wind turbines cause bird deaths and adversely affect human health have been thoroughly examined. Bird-preservation organizations are strongly in favor of turbines, and no negative health impacts have been connected to the thousands of turbines that exist around the world.
It is true that some people simply don't like the look of the big structures. But part of that reaction may stem from the fact that they are new, strange and — to some extent — forced upon us by a constellation of pressing climate and energy realities.
Personally, I'd be as happy as the next person to not build turbines anywhere. All things being equal, the natural landscape would be prettier without them, no argument.
But that's not the alternative. If we're going to even begin to reduce our dependence on oil and coal, then we're going to have to accept suitably sited wind and solar power.
And because wind turbines and all types of solar panels provide much less power for their size than do coal, oil and nuke plants, we're going to have to get used to seeing their numerous and decentralized installations in many, many more locations than are currently represented by the relative handful of traditional power generators.
Placing a turbine on Winter Island would be logical and economically rational. Most importantly, it would be not detrimental to the preservation, environment, character, or use of either the island or surrounding areas. It's not a static world — it's important to be able to respond to changing circumstances — and wind turbines are one of the new, most benign realities that we will be asked to adjust to.
• • •
Brian T. Watson is a regular Salem News columnist. Contact him at watson@nii.net.
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