Challenges and Opportunities Due to Energy Access in Traditional Populations: The Quilombo Ivaporunduva Case, Eldorado—SP

Abstract

The aim of our study is to contribute to the achievement of the seventh goal of the Sustainable Development Goals, access to universal, affordable, and clean energy, based on a bottom-up and quantitative-qualitative methodological approach, little used in energy studies. We performed a case study in the Quilombo Ivaporunduva population, in Eldorado—SP, located in the largest continuous area of the remnant of Atlantic Forest in Brazil, a biome with high biodiversity index. Our objective is to understand how the electrification process took place in this traditional population and which are the consequences for the life in the community through productive activities and its culture. Still under development, the preliminary results were produced in the field work, elaborated based on the technique of direct observation and application of a mixed questionnaire. The collected preliminary data indicate that the models of the electrification programs applied to the community over the years did not consider their specificity as a culturally differentiated community, resulting in financial difficulties, misuse of electricity, and unsatisfactory service delivery by the distributor. Thus, we emphasize the importance of rethinking the current electrification program for the constitution of a more effective public policy.