Residents of communities residing inside wind farms, who live day and night with the towers that generate energy from the wind, complain about the difficulties caused by noise pollution caused by the movement of their generators. The description is that of an airplane turbine that never turns off.
The impacts are many. In addition to the noise, the towers also affect the environment, altering the vegetation, destroying the flora and causing the death of animals. In human health, they cause ringing in the ears, depression and fear.
And all these disturbances are happening where Roselma de Oliveira lives, in Caetés, in Pernambuco. One of the towers is just 160 meters from the house where she lives with her family.
“Allergy issues, hearing issues, they lose their hearing. And one of the worst, I think, is depression, anxiety. Children aged 8, 9, 5 and 6 years old, to sleep, they have to be on medication, and we don’t sleep, we take a nap and wake up with that terrible noise”, reported Roselma.
Combining energy generation with environmental preservation and social protection is the challenge. Even more so when the data show that, in Brazil, 44% of the energy used is renewable, whether hydroelectric, solar or wind. That’s more than four times what rich countries, which rely primarily on fossil fuels, use.
For Nevinha Valentim, from the Climate Change and Socio-Environmental Justice Forum of Rio Grande do Norte, the arrival of these projects causes, at first, great environmental devastation. “When it arrives on a large scale, devastating dunes, mangroves. When there is a family farming mode, then this is devastating”, she warns.
The subject was the subject of discussion in Brasilia this week. A group of people affected by the wind turbines attended meetings with the federal government. Despite recognizing the importance of this type of energy matrix, they want to be part of the discussion. The professor at the Federal University of Paraíba Iure Paiva summarizes what would be ideal.
“That dialogue. This opening of possibilities, for us to make these voices heard, have an impact, this is a first step. The second is that we have the action of the public power in the inspection and, thirdly, we adopt a model of development, of energy security, which is centered on people and not just on economic activity”, defends Paiva.
The group that was in Brasília participating in these meetings presented an overview of the current scenario to the government. One possibility is the installation of so-called offshore wind, for the construction of energy towers on the high seas. In March, Petrobras signed a letter of intent to analyze the technical feasibility of installing offshore wind in six states.
More than 750 wind farms are in operation in the country, with more than 10 thousand generating towers. According to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), Brazil occupies the seventh position in the world ranking of wind generation.
* Collaborated with Aécio Amado, from Agência Brasil
