At the time, it must have sounded like a sensible case of sustainable development. During the 1980s, about 2,500 square kilometres of Amazonian rainforest was flooded to create the Balbina dam to feed the energy demands of the Brazilian city of Manaus. A sizeable chunk of rainforest was lost, but Brazil gained access to a non-polluting energy source. It's a compromise Brazil has made many times; more than 80% of the country's domestic electricity is generated by hydropower plants.
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