Solar energy for the Xingu

On March 27, the Institute for Energy and the Environment (IEMA) released two socio-economic studies (with the support of iCS) about the Xingu Solar project, of the Socio-Environmental Institute (ISA), which has so far installed 70 photovoltaic solar systems in 65 villages belonging to the Indigenous Territory of the Xingu (TIX). The quantitative and qualitative analyses measured the advantages and the impacts of the energy generated by the sun in people’s lives. The evaluation is clear: the combination of the production of electrical energy by oil generators with photovoltaic solar panels could provide savings of over RS $ 360,000 per year in federal subsidies if the service was performed within the Light for All Program. Moreover, the studies demonstrate that the local communities prefer renewable energy, due to both its environmental benefits, and the energy security of not having to depend on the availability of fossil fuels. Furthermore, more light signifies better health and education in the villages. An exclusive article in the Estadão newspaper provides more details.

It is important to remember that the support for this project was due to a training partnership between iCS and CIFF on the subject of impact evaluation. After the three days of qualification, the organizations had to choose between the course participants, and IEMA had its project selected to perform the research in partnership with the ISA. Click here .

Click to watch the film in english:

Illuminated Forest Documentary

The Socio-Environmental Institute launched a three-episode web series that demonstrates the importance of clean energy to the Indians and riverside dwellers of the Amazon. The documentary, directed by Fernanda Ligabue, had its premiere in Manaus during the Energy and Communities Fair and Symposium and provided a voice to its protagonists. Three Amazonian territories were visited: the solarization of 65 villages in the Xingu Indigenous Park (MT); the Electricians of the Sun Project, in the Tapajós Arapiuns Extractive Reserve (PA); and the details of the Cruviana, which is the first project for wind energy generation in an Indigenous Land in Brazil, which is close to being made possible by the Light for All Program of the Federal Government in Raposa Serra do Sol (RR) – which is also the home of the first indigenous federal deputy in the history of Brazil, namely Joênia Wapichana (Rede-RR). Watch here .

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