The Amazon rainforest, or the lungs of the world, has become the surprise and newest site for a historic renewable energy trial. In a global endeavor to put an end to climate change, an idea that turns Amazon into the center of the biggest world solar power movement has captured hearts—and infuriated some. But the farther up the panels ascend, the wheel of delays and slug’s pace bears witness to how ill-conceived an idea this room is to have such a ridiculous plot.
Why solar power’s difficult ground in the Amazon is jeopardizing the world’s best chance
The thick foliage of the Amazon, disrupted weather, and inaccessibility are behemothic barriers before the sun. Unlike plains and deserts, the thick cover of foliage protects sunlight from falling on the panels and reduces the efficiency of the solar panels. According to Dialogue Earth:
“solar energy advances in the Amazon, but why so slowly?”
And that’s the complex geography of the area and the astronomical cost of transporting and maintaining equipment to this distant place.
Despite installed panels, rain and pervasive storms have the potential to demolish sensitive electronics. That is not to say that there is going to be enough big Amazon to be the site of the world’s largest renewable energy project. The desire to harness the power of the sun here is running into the reality of the rainforest.
This is how logistics and local residents torpedo the world’s largest renewable energy plans
Not only is it a technical challenge to harness solar power in the Amazon—it’s also a social one. There are many remote villages with limited infrastructure and limited familiarity with large-scale energy systems. They require training, maintenance, and social acceptance, all of which are difficult to achieve. And so even the well-funded projects stall or underachieve, and the clean energy potential remains untapped.
The urge to install gargantuan solar panels in the Amazon comes out of the urge to produce renewable energy on an industrial level that can turn around global warming. The Amazon being so vast, it seemed like the best place for the world’s largest undertaking that would motivate everyone. But, as News Ongoing tells us,
“The Amazon is not the place for solar panels.”
Logistical nightmares on the ground, from bringing in panels on boats to warehousing them under high humidity, have contributed to delays and cost overruns. Same same qualities that make Amazon so amazing—its biodiversity and remoteness—are the same qualities that made Amazon a horrible location for such a massive project. The world’s biggest renewable energy project is battling these issues.
This is where the on-the-ground realities of Amazon meet climate urgency
Since the world requires radical solutions for climate, the Amazon experience is a lesson that not all locations are suited for mega-projects. The incremental and sequential slippage requires technology to be learned from context. Lest the noblest of intentions lead to historic failure.
Lessons learned: What the Amazon’s solar struggles teach us about the future of renewable energy
The Amazon solar test is a lesson to planners everywhere. It reminds us once more of the need for siting, local consultation, and pragmatism. Instead of attempting to shoehorn the world’s biggest projects into unsuitable locations, prospective projects could have to employ less radical, more flexible methods that work with local circumstances.
The quest to build the biggest clean energy venture in the Amazon revealed the extremes of ambition and the complications of nature. As the world is catching up with climate change at a quicker rate, the lesson of this giant failure will instruct the generation of clean energy projects ahead that the right answer should get its rightful place.