Wind power gone bad: Critiquing wind power planning processes in northeastern Brazil

Social and political opposition to wind power in North America and Europe has complex origins, but recent analyses emphasize exclusionary planning processes and human attachment to cultural and physical landscapes. In the global South, knowledge is far less developed regarding reasons for opposition to wind power. Physical and economic marginalization of affected people, whose lands may be appropriated for wind farms, from the positive benefits of renewable power is thought to motivate opposition. We analyze results of pilot research on the planning and licensing process and mitigation policies responding to negative impacts of a wind farm in Ceará state, Brazil. The pilot work reveals flaws in siting wind farms and need for more careful approaches to mitigation policies. These preliminary findings suggest the need to modify policies and procedures governing Brazil's wind-power development and in locations elsewhere in the global South.