Bye bye L046...

[David R]

Not sure how many of you have heard of the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam complex, but its going to be pretty devastating for a beautiful and diverse habitat that is home to many of the favourites of our hobby, the most prominant being Hypancistrus zebra L046, the famous Zebra pleco.

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

The dam will flood over 400 square km's of forest, which will emit huge amounts of methane as it decays under water. The area either dried out or drowned by the dam span the entire known world distribution of a number of species, e.g. the Zebra Pleco (Hypancistrus zebra), the Sunshine Pleco (Scobinancistrus aureatus), the Slender Dwarf Pike Cichlid (Teleocichla centisquama), the plant-eating piranha (Ossubtus xinguense) and the Xingu Dart-Poison frog (Allobates crombiei). There has been no assessment of how the dam will impact these unique species. Also, it will displace thousands of indigenous Amazon Indians. Project developers Norte Energia, S.A. have failed to obtain free, prior, and informed consent from the Juruna and Arara indigenous tribes to be impacted by Belo Monte. Subsequent dams will need to be constructed to ensure the continuity of the supply of water for the hydro dam, which will directly and indirectly affect 25,000 indigenous peoples in the Xingú basin, flooding more forest with an added 6140km2 of reservoir. And to top it off, the power generated will be used to power the extraction and refinery of large mineral deposits in Pará, such as bauxite, the raw material for aluminum, which will lead to further destruction of the Amazon.

Sadly it seems too late to stop the project, but it saddens me at how little publicity it has received in relation to the scale of the destruction.

http://www.amazonwatch.org/ watch the video, sign the petition...

[Joshlikesfish]

Wow

[Stella]

Craziness :evil: :evil: :evil:

[hovmoller]

Such invaluable treasures destroyed forever for a quick $...

[henward]

yeah, man has the ability to destoroy what took millions of years to evolve.

but, you know what i believe life will find a way in alot of cases.

also the hobby may keep the species alive and well.

who knows.

our technology and society now has the ability to keep such fish alive and breeding maybe?

sad though.

but, how do you tell hundreds of millions of people that need power - which is fundemental to everything that they cant have it to save fish?

for us, we can see that

but for most of the world, Africans, Latin americans, South east asians..... wildlife really takes not the back seat but boot...

no forward thinking is found in these countries. Its the short term gain, thats what its all about...

its like hunting rhinos for the horn.

in this modern age with scientific proof that it does nothing to your health, chinese still believe it. Tiger testes. Bears milk.

all jsut examples of many

[alanmin4304]

The animals and indigenous peoples have no doubt lived for thousands of years quite happily without power or minerals so they are not as important to life as we frequently tell ourselves.

[henward]

that is true.

but the modern world is different.

i am not agreeing with the building of this dam.

but i am saying that the people involved, and the people that require it do not think of the consequences.

we can all live like we did 300 years ago - but who will do that?

its a shame that this dam will flood hundreds of acres - I think they should just go nuclear to minimise the land impact.

[phoenix44]

Horribly tragic.

[Rabbit]

It was stopped in court by the "greens" but Mr da silva had it over turned the next day, there still

yet to find a buyer as it it is alot of money that is aside to supposably compensate the environment (most probably to end up in Mr da silva's pocket). Sting made an environmental stand for the Brazillians once before, but as far as im aware has no plans to do so this time. Wind power would take less space and be environmentally satisfying, produce power year round (unlike the Belo Monte which will not produce power during low water seasons) and be far more cost effective. Unfortunately the country is in debt and requires the large sale in order to lift some of this, having nothing to do with the 6% growth per year. I have good friends in Brazil who have tried with no luck to protest this development, and the public of south america (not just brazil) would like to see the project canned. The president and the brazillian environmental body will not hear any proposed alternative. The environmental body of Brazil has split and had many resignations over the Belo Monte, seeming many wouldn't succumb to bribery and the meer

un-intelligent president.

[BikBok]

have sent the link to all my friends and facebooked it

[smidey]

the L046 is about to become much more expensive i think

[mcrudd]

have sent the link to all my friends and facebooked it

I have shared your link to all my facebook friends too. Lets hope all of them will share it too and it will move around as fast as some of these stupid copy and paste status games does

[henward]

Nuclear is the key

wind is inconsistent in the best of times.

Nuclear... is clean except for the spent fuel whcih is generally dumped in a desert in the US anyways. i reckon the impact of the spent fuel is far less thant he impact of ongoing pollution.

say coal, or impact of dams. Dams are not clean, as they kill the surrounding areas.

this is obviuosly gonna strike a chord wtih greenies taht are anti nuclear.

but wind farms are not as viable as people think

thats why no big corporations invest in them, as they are not that profitable to have because they are not as efficient.

Power is all about money and cost effectiveness.

thats why solar is not common yet - solar requires a massive amount of space and little return in power for that space.

[Rabbit]

Belo Monte = Beautiful Mountain, hence the reason for wind generators that of no burden to anything including the wallet. The mountain was chosen as a position in which some area could be spared where no "nuclear" power plant could be situated. Nuclear power produces a waste of which is unusable a pollutant and in the long term a burden that will build up. Nuclear power will produce more electricity but is less desirable to the environment and would eventually cause some side effect to the surrounding ecosystem. I don't see any place for Nuclear power until a viable use can be found for its waste. With the financial situation of South America they would eventually start dumping in there own country, killing what you strive to protect.

[henward]

sadly i agree, they would not dispose of such waste properly, that ist he problem

though the atomic agency will regulate their disposal and is governed by that body. they can build it elsewhere, not in that area. wires can always transfer power.

the waste si fine. it can accumulate.... eventually technology willb e created to deal with it:)

[David R]

the L046 is about to become much more expensive i think

Unfortunately not. Brasil banned the export of it (and many other species) a long time ago. At the very least they could allow collectors in to pillage the rivers and areas of forest that will be flooded first to save as many of the unique species as possible.

Rabbits right about the wind power too, that combined with a possible 40% reduction in power consumption if Brasil were to focus on efficiency instead of just making more power stations would see them right for years....

[Joshlikesfish]

Unfortunately not. Brasil banned the export of it (and many other species) a long time ago.

We cant take the fish as they fear the species will become wiped out in their natural habitat, but it is ok for them to build a dam that's likely going to wipe out lots of species in their natural habitat -.-

[henward]

i do think that some fish will survive the onslaught.

nature does find a way inSOME cases.

all we can do is hope i guess.

still want nuclear:)

im a big nuclear believer.

[smidey]

Unfortunately not. Brasil banned the export of it (and many other species) a long time ago. At the very least they could allow collectors in to pillage the rivers and areas of forest that will be flooded first to save as many of the unique species as possible.

Rabbits right about the wind power too, that combined with a possible 40% reduction in power consumption if Brasil were to focus on efficiency instead of just making more power stations would see them right for years....

ah ok, i did not know that.

40% reduction in power? lord help us if the have to kill off the practice of brazillians

[Stella]

Nuclear is way too risky.

Not quite about power generation, but indicative of the massive problem of storing left over nuclear waste, more endangered fish:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 172256.htm

I think decentralisation of power is the way to go. Mini-turbines on every roof, solar electricity and hot water. We have the technology, why is the govt not subsidising this?

[paul_r]

One of the places i stay when i go hunting has its own waterwheel being powered from a small creek, it runs something similar to a car altenator which charges a few small batteries which then goes to an inverter into the house.

Cost aound $5,000 to setup and powers my mates house lights, tv, fridge, stereo, chiller for animals etc and all it requires is a stream with a bit of flow. and the help of gravity

Has been running for 10 years or so straight providing the house with free and continuous power and causes zero pollution.

WHY ARE WE NOT USEING THIS???

[smidey]

One of the places i stay when i go hunting has its own waterwheel being powered from a small creek, it runs something similar to a car altenator which charges a few small batteries which then goes to an inverter into the house.

Cost aound $5,000 to setup and powers my mates house lights, tv, fridge, stereo, chiller for animals etc and all it requires is a stream with a bit of flow. and the help of gravity

Has been running for 10 years or so straight providing the house with free and continuous power and causes zero pollution.

WHY ARE WE NOT USEING THIS???

not all houses are next to a creek

i like the idea of using LED lighting & alternative water heating which would cut power usage significantly. hot water heating is usually around 50% of household power consumption.

[Joe]

That makes me furious :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

I feel very sorry for both the plants/animals, and the indigenous people.

Why are they doing this if people are actually living there?

[SamH]

Someone should just go down with some scuba gear and big nets and just collect all the L046, they'd make a KILLING.

[kiwiplymouth]

hot water heating is usually around 50% of household power consumption.

I am on night rates for my hot water and the bill is always around $35-$40 per month which is around 10% of my power bill.