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Environmental issues in Uruguay
[edit]This page covers environmental issues in Uruguay.
Contents
[edit]Overview
[edit]The Uruguayan savanna ecoregion used to be covered by grasslands, palm savannas, and gallery forests along theUruguay, Negro, Yaguarí, Queguay, and Tacuarembó rivers. Unfortunately, agriculture and cattle ranching have heavily altered these natural communities. The savannas are critically endangered because there are few small isolated patches of intact habitat remaining. The whole ecoregion has been severely altered by cattle ranching, one of the main pillars of the national economy in Uruguay. About 80% of Uruguayan territory is used for cattle ranching on natural and artificial savannas.[1]
Current issues
[edit]Pollution of Drinking Water
[edit]The Santa Lucia River, the body of water that provides over 60% of Uruguayans with their tap water, has experienced a significant decline in quality since 2014. Increased dumping from agricultural companies into the sanitary system increased the amount of toxic waste in the water, and the decrease in rain does not allow the dilution of this waste to occur. Excessive amounts of fertilizers, the dumping of cesspit waste and wastewater treatment plants working to only half of their capacity.
There is an excess of phosphorus in the water, that is too much to be consumed by phytoplankton, ruins the water and helps develop cyanobacterias, that pollute the drinking water. Most of the waste that is dumped into the basins helps to produce this excess of phosphorous.
A study has shown that those children who have water filters in their homes, get better grades in school, no matter their social-economic standing. 30% of children in Uruguay have excessive levels of lead in their systems, due to it being in their tap water.[1]
Deforestation
[edit]One of the largest growing industries in the country, has affected the fertility of the Uruguayan meadows.[2] Over 10% of Uruguay's forest has been destroyed, yet with the Forestation law implemented in 1988 there have been some restrictions as to how the private sector is able to operate, by not allowing them to cut an excess of trees.[3]
Pulp Mills
[edit]Botnia was established in Fray Bentos in 2006. It meets all of the environmental requisites proposed by the IFC and the MIGA. It was also shown how Botnia would in fact help the city of Fray Bentos’ sanitary system by putting their waste through Botnia’s filters. Botnia was sold to UPM in 2009, and they have now also taken the production of biomass energy into their products.
Energy
[edit]56.5 % of electric energy in Uruguay comes from renewable sources of energy, including solar, hydro, wind and biomass. The other 43.5% belongs to non-renewable sources of energy, such as fossil fuels.[4] This ratio is rapidly changing as UTE (Uruguay's State Electicity Department) and other private companies are developing numerous proyects to change towards cleaner energy. The Global Economic Crisis of 2008 made many of the materials to produce renewable energy cheaper, therefore Uruguay decided it would be the best time to develop their clean energy sector, heavy investment in 2011 and 2012 has helped increase the country's output immediately.[5] These projects are all developed by the Uruguayan Energy Policies of 2005-2030.[6]
Wind Energy
[edit]22% of electric energy is produced by wind power. By 2017, they believe that number will grow to 38%, which would mean second in the world to only Denmark.[7] In only 10 years, Uruguay has been able to develop its wind power in only 10 years, helping the hydroelectric energy situation that has seen itself in constant decline due to the increasing droughts in the region. In 2005, Uruguay had no electricity generated by wind whatsoever, in 2015 its output was of over 580 megawatts, and it is predicted that the country will be generating over 2000 megawatts, becoming a world leader in wind energy.
Due to its very flat terrain, Uruguay has a very constant and stable wind power. Uruguayan wind energy generates from 40 to 50% of full capacity, that is if the turbines were constantly moving at full potential. On the other hand, American wind energy generates only 34% of its full capacity.
The entire wind energy project is set to cost 3 billion dollars, a project that goes from 2005 until 2030.[8]
Solar Energy
[edit]Uruguay is aiming to develop solar energy in the near future. A private entity called Tecnova Renovables has a solar power plant that now provides the equivalent of the consumption of 100 homes. The government is also developing plans for solar power.[9] The fact that it is very unpredictible is the reason why the government remains suspect in investing large amounts of money in this energy source.[10]
Hydro Energy
[edit]Hydroelectric energy used to produce over half of the sustainable electrical energy for Uruguay. The largest dams are located on the Uruguay River, the biggest being the Salto Grande Dam.
Two more dams will be built in Uruguay, without the moving of any housing or population.[11] Even though these two dams are being constructed, the country intends to move away from hydroelectic energy because of climate change. More and more droughts affect the region and becoming too dependent on these dams has forced Uruguay to purchase great amounts of fossil fuels from other countries to produce electricity.
Biomass Energy
[edit]Uruguay possesses very developed foresting, cattle and agriculture industries, From being practically nonexistent in 2004, only generating 1% of the electric energy of the South American country, it reached an all time high in 2014, achieving 13%. The two main agencies that create this energy source are UPM and Montes del Plata, two pulp mills that are taking great awareness in taking care of the environment.
Agencies
[edit]The main state agency in charge of the environment is the National Directorate for the Environment (Spanish: Dirección Nacional de Medio Ambiente, DINAMA) which is part of the Ministry of Housing, Territorial Planning and Environment.[2]
Green parties
[edit]Green politics did not set roots in Uruguay for a long time. In the 1989 election the Green Eto-Ecologist Party obtained 0.5% of the popular vote; in general, environmental organizations have had low political significance, often as part of other bigger parties.
In the 2014 election a new political group is taking part, the Ecologist Radical Intransigent Party. Led by Cesar Vega, they preach on the preservation of natural resources and are against open-pit mining.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ www.espectador.com. "El río Santa Lucía está en estado de "permanente alarma"". ESPECTADOR.COM. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
- ^ http://ahorrar.com.uy/invertir/impacto-ambiental-de-la-forestacion-en-uruguay/.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ http://www.sice.oas.org/investment/NatLeg/URY/L_Forestal_s.pdf.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "El 56,5 % de la energía eléctrica de Uruguay proviene de fuentes renovables". www.efe.com. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
- ^ "Uruguay apuesta a la energía solar a bajo costo ayudado por la crisis". El Observador. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
- ^ Cronista.com. "Uruguay: casi la mitad de la energía será eólica". El Cronista (in Spanish). Retrieved 2016-11-15.
- ^ Mundo, B. B. C. "Cómo Uruguay logró ser el país con mayor porcentaje de energía eólica de América Latina". BBC Mundo. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
- ^ Mundo, B. B. C. "Cómo Uruguay logró ser el país con mayor porcentaje de energía eólica de América Latina". BBC Mundo. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
- ^ elpais.com.uy. "Inauguran primera planta de energía solar privada". www.elpais.com.uy (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2016-11-15.
- ^ http://www.dne.gub.uy/invierta-en-energia-en-uruguay/-/asset_publisher/G1lQ59b7RjDv/content/invertir-en-energias-renovables?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dne.gub.uy%2Finvierta-en-energia-en-uruguay%3Fp_p_id%3D101_INSTANCE_G1lQ59b7RjDv%26p_p_lifecycle%3D0%26p_p_state%3Dnormal%26p_p_mode%3Dview%26p_p_col_id%3Dcolumn-1%26p_p_col_count%3D1.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ elpais.com.uy. "US$ 250 millones para dos represas". www.elpais.com.uy (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2016-11-15.