Tuesday, 16 December 2014

Rainforest, What Rainforest?


Disturbing news from Amazonia were ethnic tribes living by the Xingu river are being displaced by the massive Belo Monte hydroelectric dam (http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/dec/16/belo-monte-brazil-tribes-living-in-shadow-megadam). This is, apparently only one of more than 400 dams planned for the region. Quite apart from their impact on the environment and local societies, many of these schemes often fail to deliver 'green electricity'. Even when they work, one has to factor in the environmental costs of the carbon dioxide generated by the concrete and steel used in construction. Getting the electricity to areas where it is utilised often causes further damage to the locations.

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