Solar Xingu
Home to more than six thousand indigenous people, the Xingu Indigenous Territory, in the northeast of the state of Mato Grosso, faces the same challenge the rest of Brazil: investing in solar energy
By Letícia Leite, ISA journalist. Translation: Tony Gross e Houssam Zahreddine
Firstly, it is no longer a “park”. The name Xingu Indigenous Park (PIX), dating back to the saga of the Villas-Bôas brothers in the second half of the twentieth century, belongs in the past. The sixteen ethnic groups of the Xingu recently decided that they live in the Xingu Indigenous Territory (TIX). So this is how the area will be called from now on.
The TIX has seen many changes in its recent past, but the contemporary life of its inhabitants is still guided by their myths.
In Xingu mythology, the twins Taũgi (Sun) and Aulukumã (Moon) are the creators of humanity. They made the first chiefs of the Upper Xingu from wooden bows, while ordinary people were made from arrow bamboo. “The sun created everything”, summarizes chief Awaulukumá Waujá, of Piyulaga village home to 411 Waujá. The community is the largest in the TIX.
True to their origins these peoples, descendants of the sun, have chosen photovoltaic systems as weapons for reducing their reliance on expensive and polluting diesel oil, and for building a different future for the next generations. For the rest of Brazil, the Xingu solution can show the way to promoting energy sources that are really clean.
“Generating energy in silence is a dream. The generator takes a lot of work and uses up a lot of diesel. The solar panels are quiet and don’t give much work” said chief Awaulukuma Waujá.
By 2019, ISA and the Institute of Energy and Environment of the University of São Paulo (IEE-USP), together with the people of the Xingu, will take solar energy generation systems to 52 schools, 22 health centers, and another dozen community centers that support productive activities in the TIX. The Clean Energy in the Xingu project intends to become a reference for renewable, decentralized energy solutions that are easy to operate in isolated communities, especially in the Amazon.
The dream technicians
Piyulaga village was chosen as the venue for the training of 32 new technicians, who will install and maintain the solar panels. During five days, in October 2016, students from 10 ethnic groups took classes taught by IEE engineers. They were the second cohort. More than 100 Xingu residents will receive training by mid-2017.
“When you bring solar energy, you bring energy sovereignty”, says André Mocelin of IEE-USP. In the classroom, he uses simple didactic material with the indigenous students: notebook and colored pens. Students draw the contents of the study notes, which will serve as their operating manual when setting up and carrying out maintenance on the photovoltaic systems in the villages where they live.
IEE has experience in this area: it has already implemented such systems in indigenous communities of the middle and upper Solimões river (State of Amazonas), and quilombola communities of the Ribeira valley in São Paulo. It also invented a “solar ice” food preserving machine for forest collector communities in the Amazon.
Energy revolution
The training of the electricians and the installation of solar panels are part of an ambitious goal, a true energy revolution: reducing diesel consumption by 75% in the four “hubs” of the TIX, community centers with healthcare, education, and communication facilities. More than 80 villages with schools and health clinics will also benefit from the plan.
Diesel is needed to run all these facilities and a whole range of daily productive and leisure activities. The size of the bill depends on the population of each village. The government’s resources for purchasing fuel, however, are insufficient.
“We get a quota of 200 liters [of diesel] a month, but we use 20 liters a day. It does not add up. Every month we run out”, explains Apayupi Waujá, president of the Waujá people’s association.
The fuel can journey up to 24 hours to reach Piyulaga village. It usually leaves the town of Canarana (Mato Grosso) and travels a 120-km road as far as the banks of the Culuene River, on the border of the TIX. From here, the drums are placed in “voadeiras” (small boats with outboard motors) until arriving at the community’s landing place. A pickup truck then transports the load for another 40 km on dirt roads. Whereas solar panels, once transported and installed, can last up to 25 years.
When the diesel runs out, clean water runs out. The water pump that supplies the 33 homes also depends on the fuel. Or rather, depended. Following the training, the facility was revitalized and a system with solar panels now pumps water from the artesian well and sends it to the tank. The pump can be connected to both the photovoltaic system and the diesel system, the latter still being essential on rainy or cloudy days.
Thus 2016 will go down in the history of Piyulaga village as the year in which the indigenous community took an important step towards clean water autonomy. It is an important step forward, since deforestation, soil erosion, and the intensive use of agrochemicals on the farms surrounding the TIX have jeopardized the use of the rivers as drinking water sources.
Societies in motion
Xingu societies have changed a lot over recent decades; and they will continue to change. The population has increased and is mostly young. According to the Special Secretariat for Indigenous Health (SESAI), there now are 6,307 indigenous inhabitants of the TIX and 60% of this population is under 15 years of age. The last decade was also marked by the growth of surrounding towns, the consolidation of agribusiness in the region, and the improvement of roads.
New forms of income and labor have emerged. Many indigenous people benefit from the Bolsa Família cash transfer program and other social programs. Young people either want to study, already do so, or plan to get ahead through education. Many are in university. Altogether there are 210 indigenous teachers hired by the education departments of the state of Mato Grosso and of the ten municipalities in which the indigenous land is located.
All of this has left the Indians even more exposed to the outside world, in a very different situation from that lived by the elders, such as chief Awaulukumá. The changes have brought more consumption and have increased the demand for communication and energy. Xingu indigenous peoples are connected. Soccer in the village at the end of the day is teeming with youngsters proudly sporting hairstyles similar to their idol Neymar and other players.
“Nowadays, we use equipment to work. Gone are the days in which we worked only with an ax. Evolution is coming and we are following. Kids have cell phones… they have their stuff. When someone says this [that indigenous people do not need energy], I answer, we won’t go back to those days, we will move forward along with technology,” says Kyua.
Technological cannibalism. Solar energy is already a reality
When the sun begins to rise in Piyulaga village, it is time for Kuyakuyali and Yakalo Waujá to jump out of the hammock. Since they got married 16 years ago, they go to their forest garden together every morning. They will harvest cassava which, together with fish, is the staple food both for the 20 family members who live in the household headed by Kuya, as well as for the entire TIX population.
Punctually at 8 o’clock, Yakalo and other village women begin to grate cassava. Many use the traditional grater, which resembles a cheese grater. Most already have an electric grater attached to diesel or gasoline powered system.
In the morning, the generator is switched on for two hours to pump water from the artesian well that supplies the houses. That is when the women take the opportunity to use the electric grater. At night, the generator is switched on for another two hours to light the houses, refrigerate food, and run the televisions, connected to satellite dishes.
The houses of the Upper Xingu — more than 7 meters high, still made by hand, with fiber, straw, and wood — do not have windows. During the day, women make the traditional Wauja pottery next to the doors where there is more light. In Kuya’s house, a scene catches the eye: his wife, Yakalo, weaves a hammock at 3 p.m. with a light in the background. The energy comes from a solar panel.
Three years ago, on a visit to Canarana, Kuya was intrigued to see that the refrigerator, air conditioning, and shower at a friend’s house were powered by solar panels. The family pooled efforts and, with the savings from Kuya’s salary as school director, ordered the panel over the Internet. Three months later, Kuya set up the system in his house.
This was how his wife got the light to work by and he became able to charge his computer, flashlight, and mobile phone, essential tools for his work as a school director.
“There already are families who have chosen to buy photovoltaic systems instead of small generators. They are aware of what is more sustainable. They seek the simplest and most suitable things. From the technological solutions that emerge, they always look for the best. From everything they have seen, this was their choice,” says Marcelo Martins, of ISA, one of the project’s creators.
The panel erected in 2013 at Kuya’s house was the second to arrive at Piyulaga. In the 1990s, each village received a solar panel installed by the Xingu project of the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), which has been providing special healthcare for these indigenous peoples since 1965.
The panel installed in the community health posts, for example, can power a cooling system. “There is no snake antevenom in the indigenous area because there is no permanent energy supply to conserve it,” explains Martins. Inhalers are also often used by children with respiratory insufficiency, particularly during the burning season.
The Xingu’s challenge is Brazil’s challenge
Experiences such as these of the Xingu indigenous groups show that it is possible to shift the paradigm of the Brazilian electrical energy matrix towards sustainable alternatives. Historically, the planning of this matrix has been based on heavy investments in large hydroelectric dams, such as Belo Monte, which has destroyed the landscapes, life styles and cultures of the Xingu people in the Altamira region in Pará.
Today, solar energy accounts for only 0.02% of the national electricity matrix. Lines of credit and incentives for sustainable alternative energies (solar, wind, biomass) have only recently become available. Technological development has also been rapidly cheapening these sources.
“The government should take advantage of the sun and not destroy the river. The government says that hydropower is clean, but it is not. Hydropower destroys everything. Clean energy is solar,” says student Marcelo Kamaiurá. “We are going to show, not only to indigenous communities, but also to urban centers, that this is possible.”
Approximately 55% of the Brazilian territory is covered by the National Interconnected Grid (SIN). The remaining portion, especially the most isolated areas of the Amazon, demands energy.
“It is time for society to lobby, and we can only do this by disseminating knowledge. We cannot just point out the problem. It is necessary to propose solutions and not keep repeating mistakes. It is time for a prognosis, to know what to do, to change, and to alter the paradigm,” says André Mocelin.
* The Clean Energy Project in the Xingu Indigenous Territory is funded by the C.S. Mott Foundation.
