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Dam-building spree is underway in the Amazon Brazil hopes a bevy of hydroelectric projects will feed its growing energy demands, but environmentalists are voicing concerns.
June 15, 2012
Construction continues at the Belo Monte dam complex in the Amazon River basin near Altamira, Brazil. Belo Monte will be the world’s third-largest hydroelectric project, diverting the Xingu River and flooding as much as 230 square miles of rain forest.
Mario Tama
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June 15, 2012
As part of a protest, residents who will be displaced by the Belo Monte dam and their supporters stand atop a temporary earthen dam after removing a strip of earth to restore the flow of the Xingu River.
Mario Tama
/
Getty Images
June 15, 2012
Protesters spell out their feelings about the Belo Monte dam project near Altamira, Brazil. “Pare Belo Monte” means "Stop Belo Monte.”
Mario Tama
/
Getty Images
June 15, 2012
Belo Monte is one of around 60 hydroelectric projects that Brazil has planned in the Amazon to generate electricity for its rapidly growing economy.
Mario Tama
/
Getty Images
June 15, 2012
Although environmentalists and indigenous groups oppose the Belo Monte dam, many Brazilians support the project.
Mario Tama
/
Getty Images
June 15, 2012
Felled trees litter a construction zone at the Belo Monte dam complex.
Mario Tama
/
Getty Images
June 15, 2012
Trees are slowly scraped away from a construction area near the Belo Monte dam complex. Environmentalists say Brazil should focus on developing wind and solar energy instead of hydroelectric projects.
Mario Tama
/
Getty Images
June 15, 2012
The Belo Monte project, displacing thousands of people and clearing rain forest along the Xingu River, has galvanized environmentalists and Hollywood luminaries.
Mario Tama
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Getty Images
June 17, 2012
Boys play soccer in a section of former rain forest near the Belo Monte construction site.
Mario Tama
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Getty Images
June 16, 2012
A motorcyclist travels through a low-lying area near the Belo Monte construction area.
Mario Tama
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Getty Images
June 15, 2012
The low-lying Invasao dos Padres neighborhood in Altamira, Brazil, is destined to be inundated by the Belo Monte dam. The government says that residents forced to relocate will be compensated and that most will benefit from relocation.
Mario Tama
/
Getty Images
June 14, 2012
A woman prepares food on the Xingu River in Altamira, Brazil.
Mario Tama
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Getty Images
June 13, 2012
Indigenous people participate in a ceremony honoring the Xingu River.
Mario Tama
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Getty Images
June 16, 2012
Brazilians bathe in the Xingu River near the future site of the dam.
Mario Tama
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Getty Images
Nov. 29, 2012
Jose Gomes, the institutional director of the giant Jirau dam in western Brazil, looks out over the Madeira River that is being harnessed to produce electricity for a growing economy. “Brazil needs two hydroelectric dams like this to provide power each and every year,” he said. “We’re going to have energy guaranteed.”
Juan Forero
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The Washington Post
Nov. 29, 2012
The Jirau hydroelectric dam will span five miles across the River Madeira, feature more giant turbines than any other dam in the world and hold as much concrete as 47 towers the size of the Empire State Building.
Juan Forero
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The Washington Post
Nov. 29, 2012
More than 18,000 are working on the Jirau dam. Brazilian companies and foreign conglomerates plan to put up 34 sizable dams in an effort to increase Brazil’s capacity to produce energy by more than 50 percent.
Juan Forero
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The Washington Post
Nov. 29, 2012
Engineers will closely monitor the Jirau dam’s operations from a control room.
Juan Forero
/
The Washington Post
Nov. 29, 2012
Giant turbines are assembled for the Jirau dam in western Brazil. The dam is scheduled for completion in 2015.
Juan Forero
/
The Washington Post
Nov. 29, 2012
The Jirau dam’s communications director says the $7.7 billion project has created jobs and prompted the consortium that is building the dam to spend $600 million on social programs and housing for the 350 families that had to be relocated.
Juan Forero
/
The Washington Post
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