Toward Participatory Management of Renewable Energy Resources (Wind-Farm) in Northeastern Brazil

Abstract

ResumoApesar da energia eólica ser considerada uma matriz energética "limpa", estudos apontam que a implantação de parques eólicos no Nordeste brasileiro está causando diversos impactos sociais e ambientais negativos às populações que vivem no litoral. Esta pesquisa teve como intuito demonstrar que o investimento em energia eólica no Brasil, com enfoque no estado do Ceará, apesar de ter sido forjado a partir de um discurso conservacionista e regionalista, na realidade, direciona os benefícios da geração de energia eólica para grupos externos, com ausência de retorno financeiro local e, de forma mais agravante, causando prejuízos materiais e imateriais aos moradores que vivem próximo às usinas instaladas. O estudo revelou que as leis que regem o ordenamento da atividade no Brasil facilitam a implantação dos parques eólicos em detrimento da boa aceitação popular, sendo comumente utilizados mecanismos para "invisibilizar" os moradores locais. No final, foram sugeridas medidas para um melhor gerenciamento das políticas de implantação de parques eólicos no Ceará, de modo a possibilitar que as comunidades locais sentem à mesa de negociação e se beneficiem diretamente com os lucros do mercado de geração de energia eólica.Palavras chave: Energia Eólica; Políticas Públicas; Nordeste do Brasil; Impactos Sociais. AbstractAlthough wind power is a "clean" energy source, studies show that wind-farm implementation in northeastern Brazil is causing diverse social and negative environmental impacts to people who live in coastal areas, especially traditional fishers, small farmers, runaway slave communities (quilombolas), and indigenous groups. Social opposition to wind farms grows daily, and people allied with social movements, associations, human rights organizations, and universities have made many local interventions to stop construction. This research aims to demonstrate that even though investments in Brazilian wind power, especially Ceará state, were based on a conservationist and regionalist discourse, wind power benefits actually flow to outside groups without financial returns accruing locally, and, even worse, causing material and non-material damages to people who live near wind farms. This study reveals that laws regulating wind-power development in Brazil facilitate the implementation of wind farms to the detriment of broad social acceptance because it is a means to make local residents "invisible," as in the case of exclusion of communities on maps used to obtain environmental licenses or land-title fraud (grilagem) of collective and historical land claims. Finally, we suggest measures for better control of policies for wind-farm development in Ceará that would make it possible for communities to negotiate as equals with wind-power investors and obtain benefits from the profitability of wind-power generation.Key words: Wind Energy, Public Policies; Northeastern Brazil, Social Impacts ResumenAunque la energia eólica sea considerada como una fuente energética "limpia," las investigaciones muestran que la implantación...

Perception of Environmental Impacts of Wind Farms in Agricultural Areas of Northeast Brazil

“…Generally, the smaller the number of wind turbines and the simpler the layout, the easier it is to create a balanced and consistent image [8], since the negative visual impacts of these installations on the landscape are generally linked to excessive density of wind turbines more than by the individual effect of each one. Thus, in general terms, a reduction in the number of turbines, despite an increase in height, should translate into a decrease in the impact of future wind farms [42,43].…”

“…Causes of opposition to wind farms in coastal territories in RN, were reported by Dantas et al [7] and Gorayeb et al [8], point out that wind farms may represent an imposition of people's attachment to landscapes. Community residents may feel marginalized because they do not participate in planning decisions or because they receive few benefits, and people may complain about health effects.…”

Estudo da Complementaridade dos Recursos Hídrico e Eólico na Região Vale do Submédio São Francisco

“…Como alternativa ecológica viável e sustentável, a complementação por meio da energia eólica, surge para reduzir tais impactos danosos ao meio ambiente, como também contornar esse déficit de energia nos períodos de estiagem. Uma observação importante é que as maiores incidências de vento na Região Nordeste coincidem com o período em que a vazão das águas do rio São Francisco é mínima, favorecendo dessa forma a interligação das hidrelétricas com usinas eólicas (Gorayeb & Brannstrom, 2016). Além disso, a complementação com a energia eólica apresenta-se como uma alternativa não somente atrativa do ponto de vista ambiental, mas também econômica, em razão de se tratar de uma fonte inesgotável.…”

A mixed-method approach for the assessment of local community perception towards wind farms

“…Although in developing countries the public seems to give particular attention to the possibility of industrial development yield economic benefits, perception of negative externalities such as noise or visual impact play also an important role on these emerging economies (Guo et al, 2015). Gorayeb and Brannstrom (2016) argued that wind farms can cause large impacts on the environment and traditional livelihoods of local residents in Brazil and underlined the importance of management of benefits generated by wind power on local communities. In line with this, de Sena et al (2016) also concluded that the positive vision towards RES and wind farms in particular is mainly related to the perception of positive local socio-economic impacts in Brazil, but showed that the population is highly sensitive to the environmental impacts.…”