Patagonia Rising Transcript
00:00:08:10-00:00:12:08 (titles)
Three Peaks Pictures Presents
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In Association With The Center For Independent Documentary
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Hydroelectric projects cause impacts, but the art is that all the benefits far outweigh these
impacts.
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But these dams happen to be proposed in a bio-gem. On a global scale this is a gem of
nature. I insist, it is impossible to prove this project
is environmentally viable. It's impossible.
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The countryside is divided. People that are against it look down on people who are in
favor.
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I was born and raised here. They can offer me millions and I am not going to change my
mind. I am not bought by money.
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If they make the dams and change the Baker River, this is where it all ends.
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Patagonia Rising
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Patagonia, Chile
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Juvenal Fuentes Arratia
Sol De Mayo Ranch
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In the old days, it would take 7-8 days by horseback to get to Punta Arenas. If not, you
would go through Argentina. There wasn't a town until the river reached the ocean. This
is how it was when I was 10 years old.
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Bernardo Arratia
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Lautaro Arratia
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Since we were kids, 5 or 6 years old we worked and rode horses, helping
our dad make posts from Cypress. Working hard so it would be easier for him to throw
the wood in the river and take a raft to Tortel.
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That was our objective, there was no other.
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You have to be careful not to hit your foot. It's easy to lacerate yourself.
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There’s a place where the South American continent reaches its terminus between the
Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, a place where mythological creatures roamed between ice
and land. This is Patagonia.
00:05:25:03- 00:05:42:04 (VO)
For over 10,000 years hunter-gatherer Tehuelche tribes inhabited Patagonia. They
towered in height over European explorers, and in 1520 Ferdinand Magellan described
them as, “Patagons: giants with big feet”.
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The Andes mountain range separates Patagonia’s sharply contrasting landscapes: the dry
grasslands of Argentina from Chile’s vast northern and southern ice fields.
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Comprising the planet’s third largest freshwater reserve, the ice fields feed two of Chile’s
largest and purest rivers: the Baker and Pascua. These rivers flow through the heart of
Patagonia, Chile, and are the life source for the region’s most tenacious residents.
00:06:15:17- 00:06:31:23 (VO)
Gauchos, the iconic South American cowboys, endure Antarctic winds and long winters
on frontier ranches. Roaming tenants of Chile’s most remote region, Gauchos’ selfreliance
demands close bonds with the natural world.
00:06:33:10- 00:06:52:17 (VO)
A proposal to build five large dams on the Baker and Pascua promises to bring
development at a scale and speed never before seen in Patagonia. If approved, the region
– with its pure rivers and traditional culture – will be forever changed.
00:07:03:22- 00:07:09:22
The project HidroAysén consists of five proposed dams.
00:07:10:18- 00:07:16:05 (titles)
Mitzi Urtubia, Ecosistemas
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Three on the Pascua and two on the Baker River, which has the highest volume of water
in Chile, to generate hydroelectricity and bring it north.
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This requires a huge transmission line over 2,200 kilometers long that would go from
Cochrane to Santiago. This is the HidroAysén project.
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So why the Baker and Pascua rivers?
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Hernan Salazar
General Manager, HidroAysén
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These rivers are at a southern latitude similar to glaciers in the northern region of the
planet.
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While rivers in Chile's central valley are at their lowest runoff levels, in the region of the
Baker and Pascua, these rivers have maximum runoff. So this makes it possible to
properly take advantage of the energy of the Baker and Pascua to meet the energy needs
of the population in the north of the country.
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This exploits the best use of water. That's sustainability. You have to look at, especially
in a complex environment, situations of marked climate change.
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In that sense, HidroAysén's use of water resources in both rivers today perfectly will be
able to continue for years to come. Actually it will be a very positive contribution for the
whole country. Especially from the standpoint of our population needs in the coming
years.
00:09:33:18- 00:09:40:03
I know it has something to do with a hydroelectric plant?
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I know a lot of land is going to be flooded to make these dams.
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The fact that they bring electricity to Santiago is good.
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First off, I don't think we are in an energy crisis.
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Completely for it.
00:10:03:22- 00:10:07:18
I know what hydroelectricity is and do not agree with it.
00:10:07:19- 00:10:09:07
I find it to be good.
00:10:09:08- 00:10:11:20
It would be quite convenient.
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The answer is nuclear energy.
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No. There's a lot of alternatives.
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It's always done in silence. This isn't good.
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The fact of having more energy sources, I don't know. We are young people and have a
lot left to live. We need energy in this country. It should come from something natural.
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They don't talk about it because it is known as an issue that will cause damage in
Patagonia.
00:12:05:09- 00:12:09:22 (titles)
Patrick McCully
Executive Director, International Rivers
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The way hydro-power works is you stick a turbine in the river, and the river turns the
turbine, the turbine turns the generator and that creates electricity.
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If you try to conceptualize what a dam does to a river, one of major things it does is
fragments it. Dams divide rivers into segments with very little movement between them.
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So the nutrients that a river carries are largely carried with the sediments. And when they
hit a reservoir, the nutrients, sediments and other particles will float to the bottom of the
reservoir.
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And the water flowing out of the reservoir will tend to be very poor in nutrients and be
very clear. Actually it will have very little sediment in it.
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And when there is very nutrient poor water being delivered to the ocean, that can have a
major impact on the ocean ecosystem because the oceans require the fresh water and
sediments and nutrients that are washed out with rivers.
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People don’t realize that richest fisheries in the world are near the coast. And they are
near the coast because the biggest source of nutrients for the ocean washes off the land
from rivers.
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We have a very clear prediction for the sediment, especially the finest that
get past the reservoirs. The sediments that are much thicker, are going to be assessed and
will end up being held at the top of the reservoir, are going to be assessed and will end up
being held at the top of the reservoir, and the finest pass on their way to the sea.
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All this is studied and characterized in the environmental impact study in
such a way that you can see the effect it has on all other environmental variables.
00:14:16:08- 00:14:18:16 (titles)
Juan Pablo Orrego
Director, Ecosistemas
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What needs to be stressed is there is much endemism, meaning many species of flora and
fauna unique to the southern region. Many of these species are endangered or classified
as rare.
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The impact of the dams would be phenomenal. Our adversaries would tell
you that 12,000 acres, the area submitted in the environmental impact study, we question
this because there is no way through the study to understand how much area the dams
would flood.
00:15:01:10- 00:15:31:10
But those 12,000 acres are in a bio-gem. On a global scale this is a gem of nature. So it is
very difficult, and this is what we are telling the company, that with a few studies
covering a couple of years, that you can really understand the magnitude of the ecological
impacts. I insist. It is impossible to prove this project is environmentally viable. It's
impossible.
00:15:35:13- 00:15:59:15
There is about 50,000 large dams that have been built on the worlds rivers over the past
century. About half of those have been built in China. So there is something like 25,000
large dams built in China. The United States is second in the world in terms of damming.
There’s about 15,000 dams in the United States. Then this is India, Japan, Spain and
many other countries around the world that have built a lot of dams.
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A dam is the antithesis of a river. A river is flowing, dynamic and changes with natural
cycles. And the ecosystems in the river and flood plain have all developed with the
natural cycle of the river. When you put a dam in, the aim is to change that cyle.
00:16:19:11- 00:16:31:03 (VO)
Across the globe two large dams have been built every day for the last 50 years and the
severe impacts of this engineering experiment continue to unfold.
00:16:32:17- 00:16:50:23 (VO)
Many of the world’s major rivers no longer reach the sea year round, in part because of
dams. These include the:
- Nile
- The Rhine
- The Indus
- The Yellow
- The Murray
- And the Colorado River
00:16:50:21- 00:17:02:22 (VO)
15% of the planet’s freshwater that once flowed into the sea is now trapped behind dams.
These reservoirs cover almost 1% of the earth’s land surface
00:17:04:20- 00:17:14:15 (VO)
In addition to displacing over 40 million people, large dams are one of the leading causes
of extinction in aquatic ecosystems.
00:17:14:18- 00:17:25:20 (VO)
One-fifth of all freshwater fish species are nearing extinction or are already extinct.
The loss of terrestrial habitat due to flooding and erosion grows daily.
00:17:26:06- 00:17:40:14 (VO)
From 750 proposed dams in Tibet to over 100 dams currently in development for the
Amazon, thousands of large dam developments continue to threaten the planet’s
freshwater resources.
00:17:48:11- 00:18:11:21
A serious flaw in the Chilean environmental review process allows a giant project like
HidroAysén to be evaluated piece by piece. In the case of HidroAysén, they're evaluating
just the five dam. And they are not evaluating the main transmission line which is one of
the longest in the world.
00:18:12:01- 00:18:42:06
This transmission line would be 2,200 kilometers long and would bring 6,000 huge
towers which don't exist in Chile between 200 and 300 feet tall. And below the
transmission line, you would have a clear-cut completely bare over 300 feet wide.
Cutting through 9 regions, 67 communities, 42 protected areas and thousands of
properties.
01:18:48:02- 01:18:56:11 (titles)
HidroAysén's transmission line would create the longest clear-cut in the world.
01:18:56:12- 01:18:58:09 (titles)
Antonio Horvath
Aysén Senator
00:18:58:10- 00:19:06:02
It can't be approved until we know where it goes. It will cut the country in half, over
2,000 kilometers long.
00:19:09:22- 00:19:19:16
It's absurd. I can't accept a project without knowing where it goes-- by houses, towns,
tourist attractions, and areas of conservation.
00:19:45:20- 00:19:52:11
Glacial areas around the world, almost everywhere, are being affected very rapidly by
climate change.
00:19:54:08- 00:19:57:03 (titles)
Gino Cassasa
Center for Scientific Studies
00:19:58:17- 00:20:30:13
In Patagonia these are temperate glaciers. Practically all the ice is at the melting point. In
that case if the temperature rises 1 degree, the ice will melt. Water is produced from
melting and this generates a lake that could be on top of the ice, next to or below the ice.
For some reason this lake suddenly drains and empties catastrophically.
00:20:31:04- 00:20:37:00 (VO)
Located on the Northern Patagonia Ice-cap, Cachet 2 is a five kilometer-long lake held in
place by the Colonia Glacier.
00:20:39:01- 00:20:48:00 (VO)
During the melt season, water flowing over the surface of the glacier erodes tunnels that
feed sub-glacial streams.
00:20:49:07-00:20:54:22 (VO)
Without warning, the wall of ice containing Lake Cachet 2 is breached.
00:20:55:23-00:21:09:04 (VO)
Over a matter of hours, 200 million cubic meters of water pass through the glacier with
explosive force and inundate the Colonia and Baker River valleys below.
00:21:13:01-00:21:22:07 (VO)
Soon after the flood, the ever-shifting Glacier seals the tunnel and water begins to fill the
lake again.
00:21:25:17-00:21:34:18 (VO)
From April 2008 to January 2010, Lake Cachet 2 has released eight times.
00:21:31:08- 00:21:37:20 (titles)
Lake Cachet 2, January 2010
00:21:39:21- 00:21:55:03
That is another issue that is not assessed in the environmental impact study is how is the
safety of these dams going to be compromised if there is sudden massive flood from a
broken ice dam up-stream. And that seems like a major risk because it could take out the
dams down-stream.
00:22:11:03- 00:22:14:10 (title)
Enrique Sánchez
00:22:19:01- 00:22:30:17
It's good here. You can breed animals with no interruption from the neighbors on the
Baker. It's good to raise animals in this way.
00:22:39:21- 00:22:53:00
I like how calm it is here. No one steals your animals. No one. Everything is good.
Everyone just lives their lives.
00:23:15:22- 00:23:44:02
We are 13 siblings. Four of us live in the countryside. We work the fields while the
others are not here. If the 13 of us lived here, we would not be able to survive or have too
many animals, because everyone would want animals. There are only a few acres in this
field. 740 acres.
00:23:50:00- 00:24:02:01
The siblings not here gain nothing from the farm. They rather sell the land, than be in the
countryside.
00:24:07:20- 00:24:19:10
Of course we would invest in something else. Who knows, maybe something better.
Here, there is no road. You have to take the boat. The boat is bad.
00:24:39:14- 00:25:04:17
I am in favor of the dams because...... to be able to take advantage of
this opportunity to sell this land right. And hopefully find a better ranch. That would be
the answer.
00:25:19:12- 00:26:00:11
I know how one would feel. But if there is no other opportunity, if there is a ranch easier
to access, it's better if this one is left underwater. My dream is to be a countryman,
because there was a profit there for a few years. It was because of the sheep and the wool.
Don't you see I don't want to leave the countryside, I don't want to stop being a farmer
because it is the healthiest way of living in the Cochrane area.
00:26:13:04- 00:26:24:13
Of course, Cochrane is divided. The countryside is divided. People that are against it look
down on people who are in favor.
00:26:30:21- 00:26:36:09 (titles)
Arturo Quinto Arratia
00:26:43:21- 00:26:59:08
I was born in 1941 in a nearby village. I was born and raised here.
00:26:59:09- 00:27:27:09
They can offer me millions and I am not going to change my mind. I am not bought by
money. I live off the animals I have. There is nothing they could offer me, 10, 20 million
pesos so I can be on their side. No.
00:27:29:13- 00:27:58:09
No, I won't change my mind. I made my capital working with animals. And I will
continue that way. I won't take money for personal gain. Just take it. Give it to someone
else who is in favor because I will not change.
00:28:03:12- 00:28:06:06 (title)
Lalo Sandoval
00:28:03:12- 00:28:06:06
Say 10,000 more people arrive here.
00:28:06:10-00:28:35:23
The little that we have, they will take it like salt. It's like you throw water on the salt and
everything is gone. Where do we have competent authorities to defend us? Will they
sleep with the cows in the pen? No, that won't happen. They cannot live here. The only
thing to do would be to leave. If they make the dams and change the Baker River, this is
where it all ends.
00:28:39:03-00:29:02:15
I like the country more than town. There are times when I'm required to be in town,
because of illness or operations that I may have. So I have to rest when I am in town. But
I like the country. The chickens and all the other stuff, I could not live without birds and
plants near the house.
00:29:22:12-00:29:34:22
How pretty. So nice you left them for us to eat. I don't want the little
chicken to get mad. Over there is another chicken coop we get eggs from.
00:29:47:23-00:29:56:21
I don't know if they are going to build them. But if they build them? What is one to do? I
can't say anything.
00:29:59:12-00:30:30:01
The human aspects are the most sensitive and we have to handle the situation with great
respect to the people who are affected. In general.... a hydroelectric project like ours tries
to settle these families in a set of conditions such that they are better than if the project
would never have been done.
00:30:38:12-00:30:49:03
I have not asked, thanks to my partner, anyone for bread. And that keeps me proud.
00:30:49:14-00:31:13:21
The only thing that hurts me with changing of the Baker River, is the changing of our
customs, the idiosyncrasies that we the Baker River people have, the joking around, every
time we have to go back and forth. This is going to end. There is going to be nothing.
Even Modesto is not going to hammer horseshoes anymore. Imagine here comes this
group of people from the dams.
00:31:15:10-00:31:41:18
Here there will be nothing. In 10 years there will be nothing. And people just want to
leave. The truth is they are surprised by this. People are saying, "No, from the dam down
nothing will happen." What happened to the people on the Bio Bio River? What did they
do there? Have these people returned? Have they paid these people? So don't come here
with your shit.
00:31:44:00-00:31:46:22 (titles)
Cheaper Energy
00:31:49:01-00:31:53:22 (titles)
Ralco Dam- Bio Bio River, Chile
00:31:55:03-00:32:19:17
Endesa misled the Pehuenche communities because they proposed, within the
negotiations, free electricity. It turns out later on that the bills
they received were exceptionally high. In fact the Bio Bio region pays the highest
electricity rates across the country.
00:32:20:06-00:32:52:01
The other thing is they were given land in exchange for leaving their homes. These lands
would be flooded and were important for the dam. Their lands now have no direct access
to water. And these are farming communities closely linked to land and water. So this
deception and this corporate arrogance is ongoing.
00:32:55:20-00:33:14:02
Endesa in the 1980's and 70's was a Chilean company of the state. At that time there were
no problems of water rights because the water rights were in national hands.
00:33:14:04-00:33:33:09
However, after a period of dictatorship, there was a transfer and privatization of this
company to Spanish investors who were arriving in Chile at the time. Water rights were
passed on and became a Spanish investment.
00:33:34:13- 00:33:46:19 (VO)
In 1997 a Spanish energy company bought Endesa Chile. Since that purchase, Endesa
Spain has owned 80% of Chile’s non-consumptive water rights.
00:33:47:04- 00:33:56:03 (VO)
Purchased by the Italian utility, Enel, the Endesa Corporation has become one of the
largest energy suppliers in the world.
00:33:56:13- 00:34:03:23 (VO)
In 2006 Endesa and the Chilean utility, Colbún, formed the partnership called
HidroAysén.
00:34:03:22- 00:34:16:11 (VO)
Their proposed hydroelectric project in Patagonia and transmission lines north are
estimated to cost at least $7 billion and will require over 10 years of construction.
00:34:17:16- 00:34:26:02 (VO)
Many believe these five proposed dams signify just the beginning of Endesa’s plans for
the countless rivers of Patagonia.
00:34:31:18-00:34:57:23
HidroAysén when fully developed, if approved for construction, will save the country
$500 million a year on importing oil, gas or coal.
00:34:58:11-00:35:25:09
Its development for the region of Aysén is going to be significantly important to have a
project that employs just over 2,200 people on average over 12 years. And it hopes to
create the lowest price paid for energy today. This is an important effect on all industries
in the Aysén region.
00:35:25:19-00:36:05:01
In that sense I am convinced, not only me, but shareholders and
many people who support the project, that it is possible to live and coexist with other
productive vocations. For example if you go to Patagonia, Argentina. In Patagonia,
Argentina you have dams. You have coal mines, gas pipelines, oil pipelines, oil wells and
also special tourist interests like fishing and other tourism developments valued
worldwide. It's clear you can coexist with other productive vocations.
00:36:11:13-00:36:14:08 (title)
Cochrane
00:36:29:01-00:36:37:17
I have been here for 24 years. We met in a cooking class.
00:36:38:19-00:37:05:02
HidroAysén should benefit more small businesses. Last time they said they would give
benefits to small businesses, and all the small ones were left out. Larger businesses
already have everything they need and yet they were favored. They were supposed to
favor people who are starting off, micro-entrepreneurs, they are supposed to help them
with support for labor and machinery.
00:37:05:07-00:37:19:23
But this wasn't so. For us it's inconvenient if the dams don't happen because more people
will be here. In winter, business dies. With the dam here, that won't happen. For the
merchant it is good.
00:37:21:09-00:37:44:10
But for the people that don't make a living like merchants, it would not be good. For the
children, the ecology and then there's the alleged large number of people who will invade
the town. But for us... Lately we are trying to work for the future and it is convenient.
00:37:49:04-00:38:12:05
As a businessman it's logical that I can say yes. But spiritually and from a
personal lifestyle I do not agree. I disagree for the simple reason that we have a certain
quality of life and unfortunately with these mega-projects quality of life is lost. A lot of
people are going to arrive and we don't know what they will be like.
00:38:13:00-00:38:35:10
But the huge number of people arriving will double our population. Right now Cochrane
is 3,500-4,000 people. Imagine from one day to the next, 10,000 people. Where will be
housing? Where will be public services? Because if it's approved the company will start
now.
00:38:38:04-00:38:41:07 (title)
Caleta Tortel,
Mouth of the Baker River
00:39:05:12-00:39:08:06 (title)
Bernardo López Sierra, Mayor
00:39:08:07-00:39:36:04
Our community is very worried about the construction of the dams because the Baker
River is extremely important to us. It has sentimental value and commercial importance.
It's one of the largest rivers in the country. For us it has generated economic opportunity
going all the way back to colonial times. For example in transporting wood.
00:39:41:05-00:39:48:19
People along the Baker produce wood and transport it on the river to commercial centers
here.
00:40:09:16-00:40:34:19
As far as the dams go, our community is completely opposed to them. We did a survey
on this question. 86% of the population 18 years or older participated and 76% said no to
the dams.
00:40:39:19-00:41:08:08
Hydroelectric projects cause impacts, but the art is that all the benefits far outweigh these
impacts. Think about what hydroelectricity means to Chile. At the moment it is 25% of
our energy. And now we have the possibility of replacing seven coal plants. We begin to
see a different dimension of what it means to use hydropower in our country.
00:41:09:13-00:41:32:16
We believe these important rivers - the Baker, Pascua and their tributaries, should be the
right of all Chileans and not the trans-nationals that come looking for economic resources
that will not be reinvested in this country and will only benefit foreigners. We believe
Chile's water should be nationalized and a right of public use.
00:41:38:11-00:41:57:20
For people living in the countryside, how can you abandon everything? A company
comes in with money and says, "These guys are out because they have nothing." Because
for them, what you do doesn't matter. But to you it does.
00:41:58:06-00:42:31:05
The other thing is there are other ways to produce energy. Solar panels for example, fuck,
there's energy in that. The cost isn't too high because they are installing solar panels to
generate 220 voltage. Why don't they install them up north? They have more sun than us.
We have little sun. But there is enough to light a house. This is a good energy alternative
and we aren't destroying nature.
00:42:38:15-00:42:42:13 (titles)
Diego Huarapil
Graduate Student, University of Chile
00:42:42:14-00:43:03:00
This is the engineering school--science, math and physics--located in the center of
Santiago. The energy that comes to Santiago through the country's main grid is based
mainly in fossil fuels and hydroelectric energy.
00:43:03:18-00:43:17:12
In the last ten years new technologies have been incorporated, like wind power, which is
now a basic type of energy in our central delivery system.
00:43:18:23-00:43:24:10
We need to look at creating opportunities for clean alternatives.
00:43:25:11-00:43:39:21
My name is Roberto Roman Latorre. I'm a civil engineer and Associate
Professor at the University of Chile in the Mechanical Engineering Department. I've been
involved in renewable energy since my student days I've been involved in renewable
energy since my student days more than 40 years ago.
00:43:41:17-00:44:03:21
Stephan Hall, Felipe Cuevas, Pablo Sanchez and myself worked together on a study
titled: Are Dams In Patagonia Necessary? It was an investigation, an alternative point of
view on HidroAysén, looking from not just an environmental point of view but looking at
technology alternatives also.
00:44:04:07-00:44:12:02
Chile has world-class renewable energy resources in wind, in solar and in geothermal.
00:44:05:10-00:44:08:16 (Titles)
Stephen Hall
Sustainable Energy International Ltd.
00:44:13:13-00:44:17:05
The potential, the technical potential for renewable energy is enormous.
00:44:24:04-00:44:48:10
The construction on this project began in 2002. In 2003 it was already in operation. It
took nine or ten months. It provides energy to about 2500 homes. It provides energy to
about 2500 homes. We intend for this farm to eventually have 11 wind turbines.
00:44:51:16-00:45:11:11
Here we have the readout of what this turbine is generating. It's about 660 kilo-watts with
a rotation of about 1500 rotations per minute with a wind speed of about 12 meters per
second.
00:45:12:21-00:45:30:15
This is the initial phase of the project. We haven't finished because local demand isn't
there. We're waiting for the electrical system's demand to grow so that we can add to the
supply.
00:45:35:01-00:45:58:10
Chile's solar potential is incredible. It's 30-40% more than other places in the world. The
desert in Chile--Atacama in particular--is really unique. It's the driest desert in the world.
The average elevation is 2-3,000 meters above sea level.
00:45:58:19-00:46:25:12
That means the sun's rays pass through 2-3,000 meters less atmosphere. So the energy is
much more intense. Additionally, the climate is so dry there are almost no clouds. In the
Atacama and Calama deserts there are 300 to 330 totally clear days a year. There isn't a
single cloud.
00:46:26:21-00:46:57:07
If you were to take a plant like Nevada Solar One which is located south of Las Vegas
and bring it to Chile--the same plant, same technology it will produce 30-40% more
energy simply because the sun's intensity here is much higher and we have many more
hours of sun. In fact, you could produce more energy than the entire capacity of
HidroAysén using a piece of land smaller than what HidroAysén will flood.
00:47:04:10-00:47:26:08
So you keep raising these issues and pointing out the facts and this will ultimately have a
political impact. Energy efficiency is a key issue. Until now the greatest efficiency has
been achieved in the residential sector but very little in the industrial sector.
00:47:27:11-00:47:45:20
There is about 3,000 to 4,500 mega-watts of cost effective electrical efficiency
improvements available. We are looking at the potential of electrical efficiency
improvements in industrial motors, in lighting systems and appliances.
00:47:46:03-00:48:08:16
And what we find in every case is enormous cost effective potential, but we also find that
today, Chileans are choosing electrical efficiency products. So there is about
approximately one third to one half of the current system available in just efficiency
improvements.
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HidroAysén will have a generating capacity of 2900 megawatts in five dams. This
represents about 30 percent of the installed power in the Central Interconnected System.
00:48:28:10-00:48:43:22
If we were just a little more efficient than we are right now by 2025 the energy that could
be saved is more than what would be generated by HidroAysén.
00:48:48:05-00:49:11:02
Without doubt, HidroAysén is responding to the country's growth. As the country grows
and develops, it needs more energy. But not just any energy. It has to be clean, renewable
energy. And most importantly, energy that helps us to achieve energy independence.
00:49:11:13-00:49:30:19
You have to be careful distinguishing between renewable and sustainable projects. They
aren't the same. You can have a renewable project that is not sustainable. In the case of
solar or wind energy it's easy to show that the impact of a well managed project is
practically zero.
00:49:31:05-00:49:56:22
Almost all the impacts are simply visual. There are no significant environmental impacts.
On the other hand, a project like HidroAysén, which is indeed renewable it can easily be
shown that projects that dam up large amounts of water have large impacts on the
environment, especially on estuaries and flora and fauna. So even though they are
renewable, they are not sustainable. It's very different.
00:50:00:06-00:50:18:14
At the end of the study we concluded that HidroAysén is simply not necessary. Energy
efficiency alone would eliminate the need and there are many energy alternatives that
don't have the environmental impact that HidroAysén has.
00:50:30:01-00:50:42:05
We don’t have much longer to turn things around. When it comes to rivers, we have seen
about 60 percent of the world’s river are already degraded to some extent by dams and
diversions.
00:50:42:06-00:51:04:23
We need water to survive. We can’t keep polluting, diverting, damming our water
sources and still expect that we are going to survive in the long term. We need free
flowing rivers, we need healthy ecosystems. It’s time for us, and we don’t have very
much time, to reverse course and turn things around and shift from this mode of
destruction to a mode of protection and restoration.
00:51:15:13-00:51:28:02
Well.... the majority of people living along the Baker are my family. Almost everyone
lives along the shore of the Baker.
00:51:33:18-00:51:36:05
It’s been really good.
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This is the only thing left. If we throw it away, then we are the ones destroying nature.
What right do we have to complain? What can we say about global warming and
everything else happening? That's why the floods are happening. It's because of us. We
are destroying nature, in the end it is humanity.
00:52:14:03-00:52:20:16 (Titles)
In 2011, the Chilean Government approved the HidroAysén dam proposal.
00:52:23:15-00:52:29:08 (Titles)
The campaign to stop the building of dams in Patagonia continues.
00:52:32:03-00:52:38:09 (Titles)
Over 2,000 proposed dams are currently being debated around the globe.
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End Credits