Institute for the Development of Natural Energy and Sustainability (IDEAAS)

In the 1990s, when the Brazilian government suddenly stopped supporting rural electrification projects, Fabio Rosa established the Institute for the Development of Natural Energy and Sustainability (IDEAAS). IDEAAS implements sustainable business models that provide rural, Brazilian communities with renewable energy, particularly for income-generating activities. Rosa pioneered systems to provide electricity to impoverished rural Brazilians. His widely replicated Palmares Project established the standard for low-cost electricity transmission in rural Brazil, reducing costs to consumers by as much as 90%.

The Palmares Project was designed to provide electricity to rural properties for less than 10% of the government's cost. The system employs just one wire to distribute electricity to rural properties. Substituting materials and using local labour to build the system further cuts costs. The Palmares Project has also improved rice farming techniques (made possible by cheap electric irrigation pumps), boosting farm incomes by 200-400% and causing many villagers to return to their land from the city. Tens of thousands of properties have participated in the Palmares Project and other states have implemented similar systems. Today, Rosa is attacking poverty and environmental degradation in delicate grasslands, such as the pampas, by packaging solar energy with electric fencing and managed grazing techniques. This offers poor rural dwellers sustainable, non-destructive means of income.