Posts Tagged ‘Joel David Moore’
Brazil’s Big And Bold Dam Project Is No Avatar Plot
THE Belo Monte dam on the Xingu River in Brazil, once complete, will be the world’s third largest hydroelectric dam complex, after China’s Three Gorges Dam and the Brazilian-Paraguayan Itaipu Dam.
The £7.5bn project, first initiated in 1975, is expected to provide electricity to 23 million homes and to create an estimated 41,000 jobs. According to Brazil’s Energy Research Company (EPE), “Belo Monte enables Brazil to meet two goals: to provide electric power to boost economic growth while at the same time avoiding emissions of greenhouse gases”. Indeed, with a booming economy that grew 7.5% last year, Brazil is facing a soaring energy demand.
But the dam project has been marred by controversy from the outset. In recent years, a string of environmentalist groups and celebrities have launched campaigns against Belo Monte, saying it will ruin biodiversity and disrupt the livelihoods of indigenous populations.
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