Iguacu Falls: A Clean Power Generator

In a trip that left everyone at a loss for adjectives, participants flew from Salvador to the town of Foz do Iguacu and headed immediately to spectacular Iguacu Falls National Park. Located in the midst of the Atlantic Rain Forest, the falls were formed as successive lava flows created a basalt layer over which some 275 individual falls plunge more than 250 feet from the 3 kilometers-wide upper Iguacu River to the basin below.

A winding trail on the Brazilian side of the river provided progressively expansive views of the falls and a walkway that extended into the river at the base of the falls. Out on the walkway the adventurers experienced the sight, sound, feel and sometimes the taste of the falls. Those with sharp eyes even got a glimpse of small birds darting through the water to nest behind the falls.

Two-thirds of the falls are in Argentina which also has protected and preserved the area as a national park. The second day of the trip began in Argentina as our voyagers were back in a watercraft - this time a specially constructed power boat - for a trip up the lower Iguacu River to the base of the falls. The sights and sounds of both the river and the passengers made for an exciting beginning to the day.

Thoroughly drenched, the group climbed a well-maintained trail, past spectacular vistas to the top of the basalt ledge. Specially constructed metal catwalks provided up-close views from the top. After walking about a mile on catwalks across the wide and gently flowing upper Iguacu River, the trail ended at the famous Devils Throat (Garganta del Diablo), an area where 14 falls drop 350 feet producing a deafening roar and constant cloud of mist. Words and pictures simply cannot do justice to this spectacle. Small wonder that UNESCO has designated the national parks in both Brazil and Argentina as World Heritage Sites.

On the final day of the field program, the Semester at Sea group visited the Itaipu Dam. The lower Iguacu River flows into the massive Parana River which serves as the border between Brazil and Paraguay. A short distance upstream from this confluence is the Itaipu Dam, the second largest in the world with 20 turbines and an installed generating capacity of 14 billion watts. The dam construction and operation were made possible by the Itaipu Treaty between Paraguay and Brazil that created the "ITAIPU Binacional," an entity with legal, administrative, financial and technical responsibilities. A subsequent agreement between Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina resolved issues of water release and river levels. Construction on the project began in 1974 and power was first generated in 1983.

Today the facility supplies approximately 19 percent of the total electric power needs of Brazil, and 90 percent of the electricity used by Paraguay. While Paraguay and Brazil split the Itaipu-generated power, Paraguay resells much of its unused portion back to Brazil. It is estimated that the power generated by the Itaipu facility avoids 67.5 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually compared to coal power plants.

All this made for an amazing trip in which everyone was dramatically introduced to two important aspects of sustainability: preservation of natural resources and the generation of clean power.