Amazon and the expansion of hydropower in Brazil: Vulnerability, impacts and possibilities for adaptation to global climate change

This article aims to evaluate the use of hydroelectric potential in Brazil and the expansion of the hydroelectric power stations in Amazon, in the northern region of the country, highlighting the vulnerabilities, the impacts and the adaption possibilities of the hydroelectric energy in face to increasing socio-environmental demands and to global climate change in progress. The analysis indicates the nearly exhausted hydroelectric potential in other regions of the country, transforming the Amazon into a new hydroelectric barn or new hydroelectric frontier. The integrated management of reservoirs and multiple uses of water, the new institutional and regulatory arrangements, the technological and economic opportunities of the sector, and finally, integration with neighboring countries are treated to subsidize a sustainable use of hydroelectric potential in the Amazon. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.