The impacts of wind energy of the greatest public concern in the UK have been noise and visual intrusion. In addition we have considered the effects of accidents and of emissions from the upstream turbine life cycle on global warming and acidification impacts. Noise impacts are usually greatest at the houses closest to the turbines and fall-off rapidly with distance. At these levels the noise increment will generally be indistinguishable from background levels whenever the wind is sufficiently strong for the turbines to operate. However, effects of terrain may complicate the analysis.
Visual intrusion is the impact of most concern, but is extremely difficult to quantify.
Most landscape assessment procedures are essentially qualitative. The only obvious quantitative measure is the zone of visual intrusion. This is unsuitable for marginal analysis and therefore we can only consider the impact of visual intrusion by assessing impacts of a larger programme in the area, which might have a significant impact on the landscape. Power Generation and the Environment - a UK Perspective. M.R. Holland, P.R. Watkiss, R. Boyd and W. Stephenson.