Changing how we build hydropower infrastructure for the common good: lessons from the Brazilian Amazon

Abstract

Infrastructure projects like roads and hydroelectric dams are meant to help achieve national economic development goals in Brazil and the Amazon. In the case of hydropower dams, they have a very specific goal: that of producing energy from water sources. Unfortunately, that objective is frequently associated with environmental and social damages that result from the construction of dams. In the Amazon these damages are more serious in terms of the impacts on biological and cultural diversity. The research for this paper is based on 5 years of study by an interdisciplinary team using survey and ethnographic methods, both qualitative and quantitative. This history is repeated frequently, and it becomes necessary to ask what types of changes would be necessary to hydropower projects to begin to have social and environmental positive results. This paper explores the causes of the problems posed by dams and suggests solutions in the process of approval, construction and operation of hydropower dams that could lead to better outcomes for the common good of society.***Mudando a maneira como construímos a infraestrutura hidrelétrica para o bem comum: lições da Amazônia brasileira***Projetos de infraestrutura como estradas e hidrelétricas são usados para o desenvolvimento econômico e nacional no Brasil e na Amazônia. As hidrelétricas, em particular, têm um foco na produção de energia de fontes hídricas. Infelizmente, frequentemente, esse objetivo está associado a danos ambientais e sociais que resultam da construção das barragens hidrelétricas. Na Amazônia tais danos são ainda mais sérios em termos dos impactos sobre a diversidade biológica e cultural. Esta pesquisa de cinco anos envolveu uma equipe interdisciplinar usando métodos de survey, etnográficos, qualitativos e quantitativos. Esta história se repete com frequência e torna-se necessário questionar quais alterações seriam necessárias para que projetos hidrelétricos possam gerar resultados mais positivos em termos ambientais e sociais. Este trabalho explora as causas dos problemas causados pelas hidrelétricas e sugere soluções de melhorias dos processos de aprovação, construção, e operação desses empreendimentos a fim de alcançar o bem comum da sociedade.Palavras-chave: Hidrelétricas. Barragens. Avaliação de impactos sociais. Avaliação de impactos ambientais. Desmatamento. Reassentamento.

The impact of hydropower dam construction on malaria incidence: Space-time analysis in the Brazilian Amazon

“…This paper suggests that, while there are a range of well-known adverse social, environmental and economic consequences of dam construction in the Amazon [ 29 , 37 , 38 , 40 , 41 , 43 , 44 , 52 , 53 ], malaria control appears to have succeeded in our study sites. However, once malaria incidence is reduced as does the funding for surveillance and control, transmission could rebound quickly.…”

Assessing Land Use and Land Cover Changes in the Direct Influence Zone of the Braço Norte Hydropower Complex, Brazilian Amazonia

“…These results help to contest the claim of the "greening" of hydropower in the Amazon. The development, submission, and acceptance of robust Environmental Impact Assessment plans for environmental and social damage is imperative prior to the construction of hydroelectric dams in Amazonia [53,54]. Cochrane et al (2017) [55] conducted a case study comparing the water areas calculated from Landsat-derived LULC maps to the Environmental Impact Assessment estimations used to approve the construction of the Santo Antônio and Jirau mega dams in the Madeira River and found that the reservoirs were at least 341 km 2 (64.5%) larger than expected, and an additional 160 km 2 of natural forest areas were flooded than expected.…”

Sustainability as a perspective for the repowering of small hydroelectric plants in Brazil: estimation method

“…The implementation of new hydroelectric developments, especially large ones, is being increasingly limited, especially due to socio-environmental issues (OLIVEIRA, 2017;GOMES, 2013;GYORI, 2007;EPE, 2007), while most of the hydroelectric potential to be exploited (concentrated in the North and Midwest regions) is located in the Amazon and Cerrado biomes (OLIVEIRA; OLIVEIRA, 2021; EPE 2007), which have notoriously great environmental value for the country (MORAN, 2020). This subject is well discussed and summarized in Oliveira (2018).…”