Kurt
Member
CNN —
In a secluded part of Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest, river transport is far more common than road travel. Here, boats glide along the Wichimi River, a wide channel that snakes through the dense foliage, and powering the silent vessels is the Ecuadorian sunshine.
Five boats, each boat topped with a sleek solar-panelled roof, are being used by 12 indigenous Achuar communities across a stretch of eastern Ecuador bordering Peru. The boats have been provided by Kara Solar, a non-profit organization based in the region. Not only are the Achuar responsible for fixing, running and maintaining the boats — the solar vessels are shaping daily life for the community by offering transport for education, health services and eco-tourism.
For years, many Achuar here have used gasoline-powered boats on the river, but the fuel must be flown in by plane from Ecuador’s capital, Quito, making it more expensive and adding to the carbon emissions associated with its use.
“Local people (are) increasingly buying gasoline motors that use a lot of oil and contaminate the river,” said Angel Wasump, Kara Solar’s director of operations, who and a member of the Achuar community.
“Since the (solar) boats arrived, families have been giving up these motors completely,” he added.
“Before (visiting Ecuador) I’d only viewed technology as a threat to indigenous cultures. I think that was a very paternalistic point of view based on an overly romanticized idea of indigenous people,” he told CNN.
“They (the Achuar) showed me that they do have a desire for agency and autonomy. I realized that I wanted to help empower them to reach this goal.”
Utne returned to the US with newfound inspiration, studying solar energy before qualifying as a solar installer. He immediately returned to the Amazon and began working with the community to navigate the best use of solar technologies.
“The idea of (solar) boats at first was kind of a joke,” said Utne. “We’d talked about its feasibility, but no one had really taken it seriously.”
He said that in 2013 he collaborated with MIT and two Ecuadorian universities — Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral and Universidad San Francisco de Quito — on a study of river navigability and electric propulsion systems adapted for the Amazon.
“The study came back very positive; the solar boats could work if powered correctly,” he said. It also revealed that the boats only needed a relatively small motor to move a lot of people, requiring less solar panels.
In a secluded part of Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest, river transport is far more common than road travel. Here, boats glide along the Wichimi River, a wide channel that snakes through the dense foliage, and powering the silent vessels is the Ecuadorian sunshine.
Five boats, each boat topped with a sleek solar-panelled roof, are being used by 12 indigenous Achuar communities across a stretch of eastern Ecuador bordering Peru. The boats have been provided by Kara Solar, a non-profit organization based in the region. Not only are the Achuar responsible for fixing, running and maintaining the boats — the solar vessels are shaping daily life for the community by offering transport for education, health services and eco-tourism.
For years, many Achuar here have used gasoline-powered boats on the river, but the fuel must be flown in by plane from Ecuador’s capital, Quito, making it more expensive and adding to the carbon emissions associated with its use.
“Local people (are) increasingly buying gasoline motors that use a lot of oil and contaminate the river,” said Angel Wasump, Kara Solar’s director of operations, who and a member of the Achuar community.
“Since the (solar) boats arrived, families have been giving up these motors completely,” he added.
Sustainable solar power
Kara Solar founder Oliver Utne traveled to Ecuador from Minnesota 16 years ago after graduating college. Working at an Achuar-owned local business in a remote Amazon community, he saw firsthand the difficulties people had in accessing basic resources such as electricity and transportation. It was then Utne realized the potential for using technology as a tool for the conservation of Achuar territory and culture.“Before (visiting Ecuador) I’d only viewed technology as a threat to indigenous cultures. I think that was a very paternalistic point of view based on an overly romanticized idea of indigenous people,” he told CNN.
“They (the Achuar) showed me that they do have a desire for agency and autonomy. I realized that I wanted to help empower them to reach this goal.”
Utne returned to the US with newfound inspiration, studying solar energy before qualifying as a solar installer. He immediately returned to the Amazon and began working with the community to navigate the best use of solar technologies.
“The idea of (solar) boats at first was kind of a joke,” said Utne. “We’d talked about its feasibility, but no one had really taken it seriously.”
He said that in 2013 he collaborated with MIT and two Ecuadorian universities — Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral and Universidad San Francisco de Quito — on a study of river navigability and electric propulsion systems adapted for the Amazon.
“The study came back very positive; the solar boats could work if powered correctly,” he said. It also revealed that the boats only needed a relatively small motor to move a lot of people, requiring less solar panels.
