Lobby group 'influenced wind farm noise report Earlier this year, the energy department, which is run by Ed Davey, a Liberal Democrat, was accused of blocking a report on the impact of wind farms because of fears that it would undermine the case for turbines. The Lib Dems support onshore wind farms. The emails uncovered yesterday relate to guidance published in May over implementing a method of measuring noise from wind farms. The guidance includes taking measurements between 3.5 and 20 metres from homes, and excluding background noise such as bird song from the data on predicted levels. RenewableUK lobbied the Institute of Acoustics during a 12-week consultation period and was invited on to a peer review panel. An email from an energy department official to RenewableUK on May 10 said: "I understand you met with [name removed] and [...] to discuss your concerns about the IoA noise good practice guidance - in particular sound power levels and cumulative impacts. I'm aware that [...] has spoken to [...], who has confirmed that the majority of R-UK's input has been reflected in the guidance. Last night RenewableUK said: "We raised concerns and asked for clarification because the draft wording was not clear. Once those issues had been resolved, we were supportive of the new guidance. An energy department spokesman said the guidance "drew on the expertise of a range of parties." Richard Perkins, the report's editor, said: "There were some amendments made following the peer review, but RenewableUK did not influence the actual guidance given."