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  1. Free, publicly-accessible full text available June 1, 2025
  2. Free, publicly-accessible full text available April 1, 2025
  3. Fuchs, Vanessa Boanda (Ed.)
    Large hydropower dams and plants have been an engineering feat and a source of national pride in both the Global North and South. They were promoted as a source of clean energy almost unquestionably until the environmental awakening of the 60’s. Since then, the growing number of documented socioenvironmental impacts caused by large dams have put this energy source under scrutiny. Nevertheless, dam builders continue to promote this solution based on outdated arguments and unfulfilled promises connected to the creation of jobs, stimulation of the regional economy by the production of vast amounts of cheap electricity, improvement of local water quality and infrastructure, amongst others. Considering that most of the large dams currently planned or under construction are situated in socioenvironmentally sensitive areas, such as the Amazon, which conservation is of high importance for reaching of climate goals, this paper deconstructs myths created by dam boosters in order to reach the conclusion that large dams should not be built in the Amazon (or anywhere else). 
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  4. Sohail, Muhammad Tayyab (Ed.)

    Large hydropower projects continue to be built in developing nations, despite their known negative impacts. Large-scale energy projects strain local infrastructure and reduce access to infrastructure for households that live near them. Here we investigate the link between large-scale hydropower projects and stress. Our results suggest that these projects create stress through two mechanisms: strains on community resources and through the process of displacement. We also ask how compensation and resettlement programs condition these relationships. Using data from the Madeira river basin in the Brazilian Amazon, we find that hydropower projects increase stress by reducing access to energy, water, sanitation and land. Compensation provided was not sufficient to moderate this effect.

     
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  5. Abstract

    Over the last few years, understanding of the effects of increasingly interconnected global flows of agricultural commodities on coupled human and natural systems has significantly improved. However, many important factors in environmental change that are influenced by these commodity flows are still not well understood. Here, we present an empirical spatial modelling approach to assess how changes in forest cover are influenced by trade destination. Using data for soybean-producing municipalities in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil, between 2004 and 2017, we evaluated the relationships between forest cover change and the annual soybean trade destination. Results show that although most of the soybean produced in Mato Grosso during the study period (60%) was destined for international markets, municipalities with greater and more consistent soybean production not destined for international markets during the study period were more strongly associated with deforestation. In these municipalities, soybean production was also significantly correlated with cattle and pasture expansion. These results have important implications for the sustainable management of natural resources in the face of an increasingly interconnected world, while also helping to identify the most suitable locations for implementing policies to reduce deforestation risks.

     
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  6. Millions of people across the world live off-grid not by choice but because they live in rural areas, have low income, and have no political clout. Delivering sustainable energy solutions to such a substantial amount of the world’s population requires more than a technological fix; it requires leveraging the knowledge of underserved populations working together with a transdisciplinary team to find holistically derived solutions. Our original research has resulted in an innovative Convergence Framework integrating the fields of engineering, social sciences, and communication, and is based on working together with communities and other stakeholders to address the challenges posed by delivering clean energy solutions. In this paper, we discuss the evolution of this Framework and illustrate how this Framework is being operationalized in our on-going research project, cocreating hybrid renewable energy systems for off-grid communities in the Brazilian Amazon. The research shows how this Framework can address clean energy transitions, strengthen emerging industries at local level, and foster Global North–South scholarly collaborations. We do so by the integration of social science and engineering and by focusing on community engagement, energy justice, and governance for underserved communities. Further, this solution-driven Framework leads to the emergence of unique approaches that advance scientific knowledge, while at the same time addressing community needs.

     
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  7. null (Ed.)