Scientists come up with solution for seizure-causing wind turbines

Researchers in Birmingham have come up with a way of stopping people from having seizures when they get close to a rotating wind turbine.

The scientists at Aston University, Pamela Harding and Graham Harding, collaborated with Essex University’s Arnold Wilkins and came to the conclusion that fast-rotating wind turbines could trigger attacks.

The research conducted by the scientists reveals that if the wind turbines make more than sixty rotations per minute, the shadow flicker of the turbines can have negative side-effects to individuals in the vicinity.

The scientists have now come up with guide-lines on how to reduce the impact of wind turbines for council planning officials, in a bid to increase the safety levels of wind farms throughout the region as well as the country.

A spokesperson of the University disclosed that before a wind farm can be approved, the shadow flicker of the wind farms is put into consideration but the present guidelines have to do with the disturbances that causes attacks and are rooted on engineering or physical concerns and not on the hazards they pose to the photosensitive individuals.

The University spokesperson added that besides the scientists finding out that turbines with faster rotations or those which possess more blades generate levels of flicker that are too high, they also discovered that photosensitive individuals would need to be at a minimum of four thousand metres away to considerably cut down on the likelihood of getting seizures.

The University spokesperson further added that the researchers also discovered that on wind farms the shadows thrown by a turbine on another should not be visible to members of the public in situations where the cumulative flash rate is over 3/s. They also advised that the material on turbine blades be non-reflective.