David's key interests are in climate change and sustainable systems. A veteran journalist, he recently completed an MSc in Sustainability, Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford.
American homeowners may have been unfairly tarred with the NIMBY brush, with new research showing that wind turbines have a far smaller effect on house prices across the country than previously feared.
Using data from 300 million home sales and their proximity to 60,000 wind turbines, researchers found an impact of just 1% in value for houses that have a view of turbines within 6 miles. shows that only houses within 1.2 miles of a turbine saw their value significantly affected, at up to 8%. Beyond 1.2 miles, the impact rapidly tailed off. The researchers note that fewer than 250,000 buildings in the U.S. sit within 2.5 miles of a wind turbine, with 8.5 million homes and structures within 6 miles of one. "Our research responds to some arguments of local opposition against wind turbines, the classic 'not in my backyard' problem that is a hot topic not only in the U.S. but also in Europe and Germany," says Leonie Wenz, a co-author of the study from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research , who suggests the findings could also be used as a basis for compensating affected homeowners. "Our study also underlines that these impacts have been small in the last two decades, and that we can expect them to become even less of an issue in the future,” she adds.." But even as the Inflation Reduction Act helps incentivize the development of clean energy generation across the country, negative perceptions about wind turbines have in some areas led toMassive ‘Apex Legends’ Hack Disrupts NA Finals, Raises Serious Security Concerns Notably, the study is the first of its kind to take into account not just of the proximity of homes to turbines, but whether the turbines were within sight of those homes. That's significant, as Wei Guo of the Italian Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici , and a co-author of the study, explains. “Unlike previous studies, we did not only consider proximity, but also the actual visibility of wind turbines,” Guo says."We calculated whether you can see the turbine, or whether there is a mountain in the way, for example, and if so, how the house value changes compared to other houses in the same area where residents cannot see the wind turbine.” That consideration reveals an important detail: any negative economic effect of a wind turbine was found to decrease rapidly as distance from the turbine increased. Furthermore, the researchers say, the effect diminished over time, with any reduction in value peaking at three years following the installation of the turbine, and subsequently falling away. “What really surprised me is that the house value bounces back to the original price over the years," says Maximilian Auffhammer, a professor of agricultural and resource economics at the University of California, Berkeley, and a study co-author, who also notes that for turbines installed after 2017, any negative effect was"indistinguishable from zero." In sum, Auffhammer says, the findings show that"the impact of wind turbines on house prices is much smaller than generally feared."
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
The Long-Term Costs of Wind TurbinesWind energy is experiencing a boom, but in a pattern eerily reminiscent of the nineteenth century Pennsylvania oil boom, wind farms are building ever larger turbines to farm wind energy further and further from shore. This trend carries risks, especially as turbines come with largely hidden costs.
Read more »
The United States has its first large offshore wind farm, with more to comeAmerica's first commercial-scale offshore wind farm is officially open, a long-awaited moment that helps pave the way for a succession of large wind farms. Danish wind energy developer Ørsted and the utility Eversource built a 12-turbine wind farm called South Fork Wind east of Montauk Point, New York. New York Gov.
Read more »
Fontana winds overturn a semi truck on the 210 FreewayGusts of wind and sustained wind ripped through the area, leaving drivers to proceed with caution.
Read more »
America's First Offshore Wind Farm Opens in New YorkAmerica's first commercial-scale offshore wind farm, South Fork Wind, is officially open. Danish wind energy developer Ørsted and utility Eversource built a 12-turbine wind farm 35 miles east of Montauk Point, New York. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that the turbines are delivering clean power to the local electric grid.
Read more »
Atlantic Shores offshore wind farm in New Jersey would have 157 turbines and be 8.4 miles from shoreThe U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will begin an environmental review of the Atlantic Shores project on Monday.
Read more »
How much are wind turbines dragging down home values? A new study has surprising answersAs wind energy expands in the United States, concerns have grown about the potential for tall turbines to be a drag on property values.
Read more »