The Amazon Basin could become home to the world’s third-largest dam if Brazil continues with plans to build a hydroelectric plant to stave off the nation’s energy crisis. Energy consumption in Brazil is growing by 5.3 percent annually, a rate that far outstrips supply increases. The energy shortage was compounded this year by a severe drought, which depleted reservoirs and required energy companies to begin rationing supplies. Advocates of the $6.6 billion Belo Monte Hydroelectric Complex on the Xingu River say it would generate 11,000 megawatts annually, increasing the nation’s hydroelectric capacity by 15 percent. Opponents dispute the purported energy output and the project’s economic viability; they say the project would impede navigation and uproot area residents, as well as destroy jungles, rivers, and wildlife.
