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[The Guardian] Solar power to the people: how the sun is bringing light – and TV – to Amazon villages
Their fuel resources have long been plundered by others, while national grids have failed to connect them. Now, solar panels could give more than electricity to Indigenous people
Photograph: Flavia Milhorance/Dialogue EarthAccording to experts interviewed by Dialogue Earth, small solar systems are cheaper, have a smaller environmental impact and require less maintenance than other sources of energy, avoiding polluting gas emissions. The Ceibo Alliance, an organisation bringing together the Secoya, Siona, Kofán and Waorani Indigenous peoples, has installed solar systems in 16 communities, allowing territorial guards to use clean energy to charge their drones, GPS and other surveillance equipment. Photograph: Flavia Milhorance/Dialogue EarthHowever, these projects are so far making only a modest dent when compared with the challenge of replacing fossil fuel generators, which are still the main alternative in these regions, according to Eduardo Pichilingue, a coordinator at Cuencas Sagradas (Sacred Basins), an Indigenous alliance to protect the Amazon in Ecuador and Peru.
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