Electricity consumption in parts of the city of Betim in eastern Brazil has gone down by 40 per cent over the past few months. This is partly due to solar panels being installed on nearly 1,500 new low cost houses in the city, a project supported by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

Sustainability

The Betim scheme is a project run by the  ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability organisation - and supported by local and central government including Brazil’s Ministry of the Environment, as well as the FCO.

The new scheme has already been tried successfully in two other Brazilian cities: nearby Belo Horizonte and Porto Alegre in the far south-east.

Betim locals are very pleased.  Maria, one proud house-owner, says that "by the end of the month my energy bill is much cheaper, and the system works fine".

Hot water

And Amanda Guimaraes, another solar house owner, reckons that she spends far less each month to get her water hot.

Head of the electricity company, Tulio Machado, says that the 40 per cent reduction has meant that hard-pressed local families have made substantial savings which has obviously had an impact on their other household spending. "Each kilowatt that we save will also reduce our impact on the environment", he says.

Encouraging

This success has so encouraged the town council that they have done a deal with a major transport company to run all public buses on a percentage of biodiesel.

Brazil's enthusiasm for renewables dates back to the earth summit held in that country in 1992.  Brazilian local government took up the baton with the help of ICLEI who says that Betim in particular has taken the lead as one of their Local Renewables Model Communities.  

This, says ICLEI, has inspired other Brazilian cities such as São Paulo, Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte and others to improve their approach to energy.

Advance planning

Carlos Pedrosa, mayor of Betim thinks the key is advance planning. "Our relationship with ICLEI has changed how we do things in the city. They have been consistent in reminding us that sustainability makes sense and we now think about it before we do a project, not after, and that gives us tremendous benefits".

A side effect is that as more low energy projects have been tried, the more popular local politicians and planners have become!

Building project

Another large-scale Brazilian environmental project supported by the FCO was announced recently by ICLEI and is designed to improve building methods and techniques.  

A World Bank study recently argued that "improving energy efficiency for existing buildings and other infrastructure could cut current energy consumption by 25 per cent or more in India, China and Brazil".

Innovative

The new FCO/ICLEI project – which will be tried in various Brazilian cities - aims to persuade the construction sector to use more innovative building techniques, new technology, materials that emit less CO2 and use less energy and not use wood which has been illegally forested.

Read more about our policy on developing a low carbon economy.