sustainability Article Connections Between Wind Energy, Poverty and Social Sustainability in Brazil’s Semiarid Maria Luiza de Medeiros Galvão 1,2,* , Marco Aurélio dos Santos 2, Neilton Fidelis da Silva 1,2,3 and Valdenildo Pedro da Silva 1 1 Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Rio Grande do Norte (IFRN), Natal 59015-000, Brazil;
[email protected] (N.F.d.S.);
[email protected] (V.P.d.S.) 2 Energy Planning Program of Alberto Luiz Coimbra Institute for Graduate Studies and Engineering Research, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21941-909, Brazil;
[email protected] 3 International Virtual Institute of Global Changes IVIG/COPPE/UFRJ—University City, Rio de Janeiro/RJ, CEP 21941-485, Brazil * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +55-084-99915-9398 Received: 21 December 2019; Accepted: 20 January 2020; Published: 23 January 2020 Abstract: In Brazil, the technical-scientific and informational knowledge records abundance of winds of high commercial viability and its use has usually occurred in spaces socially characterized by poverty. In the state of Rio Grande do Norte, the Mato Grande territory concentrates 3758 MW of installed capacity in 114 wind farms. In opposition to this economic and technological development, 5191 families settled in 73 rural settlements live in poverty, living with restrictions on land use and exploitation caused by water stress and without enjoying the benefits of energy activity. Therefore, the aim of this study is to understand the connections between the implementation of wind farms as sustainability promoters and the permanence of poverty levels.