The Belo Monte Dam, Brazil

As part of our Geography A level course, we do a unit called Issues Evaluation (IE). This involves an exam about a specific issue that we have previously researched. The information pack is released in early November and the idea is that pupils take their own investigative slant on a topical issue.

This exam series, the IE topic is the Belo Monte dam in Brazil. As Brazil is fast developing (called the 'new China' by some people), its industry is increasing, along with its energy needs. It has been proposed that a dam be built across the Xingu River, a tributary of the Amazon. The dam would cut off a stretch of the river at the neck of a meander, and the resulting reservoir would flood parts of the rainforest. River water passing through the turbines in the dam would generate hydroelectric power. The dam would cost up to £11 billion and could be producing electricity from 2014.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belo_Monte_Dam

According to the Advance Information Booklet released by the exam board, this dam could generate enough electricity for 23 million homes. But during the three to four month dry season, output could decrease to less than a tenth of this, and the Belo Monte dam would become one of the most inefficient in the world.

The native people, the Kayapo, are strongly against this project. At a meeting between them and Electrobras, the state electricity company, in 2008, a group of people wearing traditional costumes and carrying machetes approached one of the company's engineers, who emerged shirtless and with a large machete wound on his shoulder.

The head of Brazil's environmental agency said that the dam would affect around 12,000 people, but that the conditions of the licence to build the dam would ensure that the quality of life was improved for these people. It is expected that most of the energy produced by the dam would go towards the development of mining and industry in the area, providing jobs.

On the one hand, the native people, who have lived in the area for hundreds of years, will be displaced and have their traditions and customs threatened. But on the other hand, sustainable energy produced by the dam will allow the development of the area and hopefully improve the lives of the people living there.

Which is more important? Is it possible to make that decision? And how could the disadvantages be mitigated by the planners of the dam?