Sleep plays a vital role in brain function and systemic physiology across many body systems Problems with sleep are widely prevalent and include deficits in quantity and quality of sleep; sleep problems that impact the continuity of sleep are collectively referred to as sleep disruptions Numerous factors contribute to sleep disruption, ranging from lifestyle and environmental factors to sleep disorders and other medical conditions Sleep disruptions have substantial adverse short- and long-term health consequences A literature search was conducted to provide a nonsystematic review of these health consequences (this review was designed to be nonsystematic to better focus on the topics of interest due to the myriad parameters affected by sleep) Sleep disruption is associated with increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, metabolic effects, changes in circadian rhythms, and proinflammatory responses In otherwise healthy adults, short-term consequences of sleep disruption include increased stress responsivity, somatic pain, reduced quality of life, emotional distress and mood disorders, and cognitive, memory, and performance deficits For adolescents, psychosocial health, school performance, and risk-taking behaviors are impacted by sleep disruption Behavioral problems and cognitive functioning are associated with sleep disruption in children Long-term consequences of sleep disruption in otherwise healthy individuals include hypertension, dyslipidemia, cardiovascular disease, weight-related issues, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and colorectal cancer All-cause mortality is also increased in men with sleep disturbances For those with underlying medical conditions, sleep disruption may diminish the health-related quality of life of children and adolescents and may worsen the severity of common gastrointestinal disorders As a result of the potential consequences of sleep disruption, health care professionals should be cognizant of how managing underlying medical conditions may help to optimize sleep continuity and consider prescribing interventions that minimize sleep disruption

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Short- and long-term health consequences of sleep disruption.

Development of alternative energy sources has become a necessity as fossil energy resources are declining. At the same time, energy demand is rapidly increasing, putting the world on the verge of a global energy crisis. Moreover, the extensive use of conventional energy sources is polluting the environment and causing global warming. On the other hand, wind and other renewable energy sources are viable and clean alternatives to fossil fuels. Low operating cost and extensive availability make wind one of the most advantageous and effective renewable energy sources. This paper provides an exposure to the necessity for deployment of renewable energy sources and the worldwide installed capacity of wind power as well as a review of various wind technologies in conjunction with their applications and devices of operation. Furthermore, this paper discusses the cost of electric generation in wind power plants as well as the economic and environmental policies that advocate the installation of wind energy systems.

Wind energy: Trends and enabling technologies

Thirty years of North American research on public acceptance of wind energy has produced important insights, yet knowledge gaps remain. This review synthesizes the literature, revealing the following lessons learned. (1) North American support for wind has been consistently high. (2) The NIMBY explanation for resistance to wind development is invalid. (3) Socioeconomic impacts of wind development are strongly tied to acceptance. (4) Sound and visual impacts of wind facilities are strongly tied to annoyance and opposition, and ignoring these concerns can exacerbate conflict. (5) Environmental concerns matter, though less than other factors, and these concerns can both help and hinder wind development. (6) Issues of fairness, participation, and trust during the development process influence acceptance. (7) Distance from turbines affects other explanatory variables, but alone its influence is unclear. (8) Viewing opposition as something to be overcome prevents meaningful understandings and implementation of best practices. (9) Implementation of research findings into practice has been limited. The paper also identifies areas for future research on wind acceptance. With continued research efforts and a commitment toward implementing research findings into developer and policymaker practice, conflict and perceived injustices around proposed and existing wind energy facilities might be significantly lessened.

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Thirty years of North American wind energy acceptance research: What have we learned?

This article presents a review of the state of the art of the Wind Farm Design and Optimization (WFDO) problem. The WFDO problem refers to a set of advanced planning actions needed to extremize the performance of wind farms, which may be composed of a few individual Wind Turbines (WTs) up to thousands of WTs. The WFDO problem has been investigated in different scenarios, with substantial differences in main objectives, modelling assumptions, constraints, and numerical solution methods. The aim of this paper is: (1) to present an exhaustive survey of the literature covering the full span of the subject, an analysis of the state-of-the-art models describing the performance of wind farms as well as its extensions, and the numerical approaches used to solve the problem; (2) to provide an overview of the available knowledge and recent progress in the application of such strategies to real onshore and offshore wind farms; and (3) to propose a comprehensive agenda for future research.

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A Review of Methodological Approaches for the Design and Optimization of Wind Farms

Energy use is central to human society and provides many health benefits. But each source of energy entails some health risks. This article reviews the health impacts of each major source of energy, focusing on those with major implications for the burden of disease globally. The biggest health impacts accrue to the harvesting and burning of solid fuels, coal and biomass, mainly in the form of occupational health risks and household and general ambient air pollution. Lack of access to clean fuels and electricity in the world’s poor households is a particularly serious risk for health. Although energy efficiency brings many benefits, it also entails some health risks, as do renewable energy systems, if not managed carefully. We do not review health impacts of climate change itself, which are due mostly to climate-altering pollutants from energy systems, but do discuss the potential for achieving near-term health cobenefits by reducing certain climate-related emissions.

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Energy and Human Health

Industrial wind turbines (IWTs) are a new source of noise in previously quiet rural environments. Environmental noise is a public health concern, of which sleep disruption is a major factor. To compare sleep and general health outcomes between participants living close to IWTs and those living further away from them, participants living between 375 and 1400 m (n = 38) and 3.3 and 6.6 km (n = 41) from IWTs were enrolled in a stratified cross-sectional study involving two rural sites. Validated questionnaires were used to collect information on sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index — PSQI), daytime sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Score — ESS), and general health (SF36v2), together with psychiatric disorders, attitude, and demographics. Descriptive and multivariate analyses were performed to investigate the effect of the main exposure variable of interest (distance to the nearest IWT) on various health outcome measures. Participants living within 1.4 km of an IWT had worse sleep, were sleepier during the day, and had worse SF36 Mental Component Scores compared to those living further than 1.4 km away. Significant dose-response relationships between PSQI, ESS, SF36 Mental Component Score, and log-distance to the nearest IWT were identified after controlling for gender, age, and household clustering. The adverse event reports of sleep disturbance and ill health by those living close to IWTs are supported.

http://burenvanlageweide.nl/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/2012-11-Nissenbaum-Aramini-Hanning-Noise-and-Health.pdf

Effects of industrial wind turbine noise on sleep and health

Seems to affect health adversely and an independent review of evidence is needed 

The evidence for adequate sleep as a prerequisite for human health, particularly child health, is overwhelming. Governments have recently paid much attention to the effects of environmental noise on sleep duration and quality, and to how to reduce such noise.1 However, governments have also imposed noise from industrial wind turbines on large swathes of peaceful countryside.

The impact of road, rail, and aircraft noise on sleep and daytime functioning (sleepiness and cognitive function) is well established.1 Shortly after wind turbines began to be erected close to housing, complaints emerged of adverse effects on health. Sleep disturbance was the main complaint.2 Such reports have been dismissed as being subjective and anecdotal, but experts contend that the quantity, consistency, and ubiquity of the complaints constitute epidemiological evidence of a strong link between wind turbine noise, ill health, and disruption of sleep.3

The noise emitted by a typical onshore 2.5 MW wind turbine has two main components. A dynamo mounted on an 80 m tower is driven through a gear train by …

Wind turbine noise

EDITOR—Hemminki and Kellokumpu-Lehtinen show the impact of the EU Clinical Trials Directive and the resulting additional cost and bureaucratic delays on cancer drug research1 It has become almost impossible for academic researchers to initiate and …

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Harmful impact of EU clinical trials directive: Trial of alerting drug in fibromyalgia has had to be abandoned…

Chapman insinuates that our histories of anti-wind farm activity automatically invalidate our opinions.1 2 We are not against wind farms in general, only those placed too close to human habitation, a public health objective that should surely meet with his approval. As a member of the Climate and Health Alliance, which advocates renewable energy, Chapman could be described as having a …

https://www.bmj.com/content/bmj/344/bmj.e3367.full.pdf

Authors’ reply to Chapman

https://www.jpsmjournal.com/article/S0885-3924(09)00538-7/pdf

Christopher D Hanning

Papers

Effects of industrial wind turbine noise on sleep and health

Wind turbine noise

Harmful impact of EU clinical trials directive: Trial of alerting drug in fibromyalgia has had to be abandoned…

Authors’ reply to Chapman

The Brief Fatigue Inventory: Comparison of Data Collection Using a Novel Audio Device with Conventional Paper Questionnaire