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Environmental Concerns
A concern with any form of wind turbine is how it will affect the wildlife, like birds, with which the turbine will share air space. On average wind turbines kill 40,000 birds per year compared to 80,000 from airplanes, 50 million from cars, and 500 million from cats. This statistic includes both HAWTs and VAWTs. The percentage of that statistic of deaths cause by VAWTs is smaller than those caused by HAWTs because VAWTs are built closer to the ground and operate at slower speeds that HAWTs. Additionally, in study at Loughborough University showed that changing the color of the turbines could affect this death rate, with more brightly-colored turbines resulting in fewer deaths.
With regard to noise pollution, vertical axis wind turbines produce much less noise pollution than their horizontal counterparts. VAWTs produce 40-60 db of noise on average while HAWTs average 90-100 db. For comparison, Table 2 shows how decibels translate into sounds we are familiar with. A VAWT can produce about as much noise as a normal conversation. In contrast, a HAWT can produce as much noise as a lawn mower.
With regard to noise pollution, vertical axis wind turbines produce much less noise pollution than their horizontal counterparts. VAWTs produce 40-60 db of noise on average while HAWTs average 90-100 db. For comparison, Table 2 shows how decibels translate into sounds we are familiar with. A VAWT can produce about as much noise as a normal conversation. In contrast, a HAWT can produce as much noise as a lawn mower.