"Committed solely to enlightenment and truth"

The biennial Sepp Daxenberger Award of the Bavarian Greens goes to the Bayreuth scientist Dr Stefan Holzheu in 2021. The geoecologist discovered that the established method of calculatiing infrasound pollution from wind turbines was flawed and far too high - and has thus refuted one of the most important arguments against wind power. UBTaktuell spoke with him about his scientific drive. 

How would you introduce yourself? As a Sepp Daxenberger award-winner? As David against Goliath? As a "normal" inquisitive researcher?
As a normal inquisitive researcher.  :-)

Why is that?
For me, science is our most important tool for arriving at the best decisions in a complex, interconnected world. Correct scientific facts are indispensable in this.

With your research, you uncovered that the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources had miscalculated exposure to infrasound by several decimal places. Would you like to describe this briefly? How did you find out that the BGR had made a mistake?
You often come across errors by chance. The beauty of science is that everything has to fit into a consistent overall picture. If something obviously doesn't fit, then there is usually a mistake. That was precisely the problem with the Federal Agency's work. The infrasound levels were a factor of 1,000 – 10,000 higher than what all other institutions had published.

What is the connection to your research at the University of Bayreuth?
One of our main areas of work in BayCEER IT is sensor data acquisition. We also build our own measuring devices for this purpose. I used components of these systems to develop my own infrasound measuring device. Because the best way to understand a topic is to have your own measurement results.

What is infrasound actually?
Like normal sound, infrasound is nothing more than a fluctuation in air pressure. With infrasound, the frequency of these fluctuations is particularly low. Usually, anything less than 20 oscillations per second is called infrasound. By the way, infrasound did not come into being with the first wind turbines. By far the largest source of infrasound is the wind.

When you exposed these errors, you were initially dismissed, not taken seriously - do you now have a different view of the scientific culture of dealing with error?
No. I think the overwhelming majority of scientists are completely professional and would correct such a mistake immediately. However, it becomes dangerous when economic or political interests influence science. Whether that was relevant here or whether the mistake was simply too embarrassing for the BGR employee concerned, I don't want to judge.

What is this culture like here at the University of Bayreuth?
As I said, I believe our universities and research institutions in Germany are wonderful places of free science, committed solely to enlightenment and truth. A look at other, autocratically governed countries should make us aware of what an asset this is. The University of Bayreuth's mission statement contains the catchword "Third Mission". This is precisely where I place my work. On the subject of infrasound and wind energy, anti-wind energy groups have systematically spread disinfromation. I have built a website that addresses this disinformation and invites scientific discussion. Opponents of wind power have tried several times to take this website offline via e-mails, letters from lawyers, or complaints to the University Governing Board. I would therefore like to thank BayCEER and the University Governing Board for always standing behind my work and rejecting these attacks. Especially these days, it is well known that interest-driven disinformation is spread in many areas under the guise of science. Serious science should defend itself loud and clear against this. I did this on the issue of infrasound and wind energy, and I am glad I was supported by the University.