This crisis is part of a phase change process (Aguilera, 2023), which is accompanied by a change in the productive structure and, consequently, a change in the way energy is produced, that is, the world is increasingly walking on the foundations of the digitalization of the economy, basing its infrastructure on the consumption of clean energy.
The ET represents the transition from a fossil energy matrix, which today represents 80% of the energy worldwide, to a matrix based on clean energies – wind, solar, hydroelectric, nuclear, among others. Behind this transformation is a dispute over the control and appropriation of natural resources by countries of the “first world” or so-called Global North, and transnational companies through territorial, military, and economic conflicts, among others.
In this context, the climate agenda, which has as its antecedent the Kyoto Protocol and the successive COPs, seems to be on “pause” since the gradual replacement of Russian gas in Europe and the post-pandemic economic recovery have caused an increase of 0.9% of greenhouse gas emissions in 2022 (IEA, 2023). Likewise, in 2023, oil demand grew by 2.6%, exceeding 100 million barrels per day for the first time in history ( Energy Institute, 2024) and a projection of an increase in total oil demand of 3.2 million barrels per day between 2023 and 2030 is estimated (IEA, 2024). With so much transition propaganda, the question arises: will fossil fuels cease to be used?
Extractivism and industry: two sides of the energy transition
In the extractive industry, such as mining, hydrocarbons, etc., the work merely consists of overcoming the obstacles required by the capture and appropriation of raw or primary products, that is, no raw materials are processed for production.
In this sense, the global agenda promotes corporate ET of an extractive nature for countries in the global south or developing countries such as Argentina, that is, this ET model attempts to reproduce and deepen practices of dispossession, dependencies and hegemonies that have been operating for a long time in these latitudes.
In this way, one can analogously think about how the international division of labor occurred back at the beginning of the industrial revolution, and how today an “international division” is being configured in the ET, where, on the one hand, the countries and corporations of the Global North develop the “new” energy industry, and on the other, the countries of the Global South have the role of mere suppliers of natural resources – mining and energy.
That is, in 2015 the North appropriated from the South on net 12 billion tons of embodied raw material equivalent, 822 million hectares of embodied land, 21 exajoules of embodied energy and 188 million person-years of embodied labour, worth US$10.8 trillion at Northern prices, enough to end extreme poverty 70 times over (Hickel & others, 2022).
In this sense, the International Energy Agency (2023) states that the greatest growth in investment in clean energy during the period 2019-2023 occurs mainly between China, the European Union, the United States, Japan and India.
The Asian giant – China – is the main investor in clean energy in line with its goal of being “carbon neutral” by 2060; for its part, the US approved in August 2022 the Chips Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, which together include more than USD 400 billion in tax credits, grants and loans designed to foster a domestic semiconductor industry and a clean technology manufacturing base (Chu and Roeder, 2023).
Likewise, the IEA (2023)mentions that, at a time of growing geopolitical uncertainty and accelerated energy transitions, an extraordinary endowment of energy and mineral resources, as well as a history of leadership in clean energy, positions Latin America and the Caribbean to play an increasingly influential role in the global energy sector. He adds that, Argentina is the only country that has developed oil in the exploitation of unconventional hydrocarbons at scale, positioning Vaca Muerta as a new global energy emerging player.
Given the situation, a historical perspective also suggests the inevitable increase in corporate pressures aimed at deepening the forms of extractivism in the region and the country.
Energy in libertarian times
The national energy policy, outlined by the new administration of Javier Milei, indicates that it is taking a course to occupy the place granted to it by the main powers and global companies as a mere supplier of raw materials in the corporate ET.
The controversial RIGI – Large Investment Incentive Regime – approved in the “base law”, is the seed of a new extractivist cycle in the country, since it provides legal and fiscal security for a period of 30 years to the detriment of the national productive framework, as well as energy sovereignty.
In this regard, the Argentine Industrial Union (UIA) confirmed that factory production fell 19.5 percent year-on-year in June, accumulating 13 consecutive months of decline.
Likewise, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics and Census -INDEC- in June 2024, the use of installed capacity in the industry is at 54.5%, a level lower than that of the same month in 2023, which was 68.6% (INDEC, 2024).
In addition to the RIGI and the dismantling of the Argentine industrial sector, we can mention some axes of the national energy policy that mark this path: privatizations of public companies such as Argentina Energy SA, Argentina Nuclear Power SA, hydroelectric plants of Comahue – Piedra del Aguila, Chocón, Cerros Colorados and Alicura-; removal of subsidies; liberalization of energy prices; sale of mature YPF fields; defunding of the nuclear sector; among others.
Against the grain of systemic pressure and short-term libertarian business, ET presents an opportunity for the country as a development path with a sustainable social and environmental perspective, which enables the accumulation of technological capabilities with increasing degrees of autonomy that allow moving towards a sovereign energy agenda in the region and thus avoiding falling into the logic of a corporate energy transition.
The challenge is great, the horizon is clear: extractivism or industry in harmony with nature.
Electrical Engineer (UNRC), Master in Energy Management (UNLa), Diploma in Strategic Anticipation and Risk Management (UNDEF), Director of the Energy, Science and Technology Observatory (OECYT) associated with the People and Science platform. Professor at UNPAZ. Networks: @nicomalinovsky
Source: Ambito
