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Energy transitions in Argentina: agendas, debates and current academic perspectives

Julián I. Ramírez Guirao

Résumés

La transition énergétique est un concept devenu clef pour rendre compte des processus de changement et de transformation des modes d'utilisation de l'énergie. Son appréhension relève également d’un changement de paradigme vers un système énergétique sécurisé, abordable, fiable et « post-combustibles fossiles ». L'impact de la transition énergétique sur l'agenda académique des sciences sociales et environnementales est devenu central car il met en lumière un défi politico-culturel contemporain crucial. Ainsi, l'objectif principal de cet article est de comprendre comment ce concept est interprété et analysé dans la production académique dominante anglo-saxonne et comment, en comparaison, il se développe académiquement en Argentine, conçue comme un cas pertinent pour illustrer les productions des circuits académiques dits périphériques. Pour cela, nous avons comparé ces deux circuits académiques (anglo-saxon et argentin) et avons observé les différences qui s’y opèrent en termes d'analyse conceptuelle, de problèmes présentés, de débats, de relations entre notions et circuits, et d'agendas de recherche. Du point de vue méthodologique, le travail s’appuie sur une analyse bibliométrique : à l'échelle mondiale, Scopus (Elsevier) a été utilisé pour analyser la production scientifique en anglais ; à l’échelle de l’Argentine, des réseaux de dépôts en libre accès ont été utilisés. Les résultats indiquent que la production scientifique issue du circuit académique dominant tend à englober différents cadres analytiques disciplinaires, adopte généralement une perspective à l'échelle mondiale et appréhende le processus de transition à grande échelle. Dans les études académiques argentines sur la transition énergétique, les débats sont marqués par la mobilisation de différents cadres interprétatifs, les travaux entrent par des problèmes spécifiques et relèvent plus souvent d’analyses empiriques, et les différents cadres et débats semblent relativement cloisonnés et peu connectés. Au final, entre circuit académique anglo-saxon et circuits argentins, les frontières sont peu poreuses et les articulations restent rares.

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This research has been funded by the by the National Council of Science and Technology (CONICET) and HIGHLANDS.3 project (Collective approach to research and innovation for sustainable development in Mountains) (grant H2020-MSCA-RISE 2019-872328-HIGHLANDS.3).
The author thanks Facundo Rojas, Osvaldo Sironi and Lucrecia Wagner from the Historia Ambiental Group (IANIGLA - CONICET), as well as Osvaldo Gallardo (FCPyS - UNCUYO) and Uma Le Daca (Mc Gill University) for their valuable suggestions, corrections, and contributions.

Introduction

1Research on Global Warming (Hansen et al., 2006), Climate Change (IPCC, 2023), and debates surrounding the Anthropocene (Crutzen & Stoermer, 2000) have sounded the alarm about contemporary lifestyles, which have led to unprecedented socio-ecological change. The energy transition has become a central theme in the response to this crisis, emphasizing the urgent need to reduce reliance on fossil fuels as the primary energy source in various industrial and agricultural sectors. The energy sector is at a pivotal historical moment, facing technical challenges and significant cultural and political hurdles (Stirling, 2014; Burke & Stephens, 2017).

2The literature on transitions encompasses a wide range of perspectives on pathways of change within systems, including technological transitions (Geels & Schot, 2007), transition management (Meadowcroft, 2009), system innovation (Markard et al., 2015), technological revolutions (Perez, 2002), and regime transformation (Van de Poel, 2003). The authors of this literature on transitions toward sustainability understand this process as systemic innovations among sociotechnical configurations, which encompass not only technological aspects but also market issues, social behaviours, and practices, as well as policies and cultural discourses (Coenen et al., 2012). Additionally, scholars from the German Critical Academy view socio-ecological transformation as an umbrella concept that enables a comprehensive understanding of the environmental crisis and, from there, contributes to a political and social strategy to address the crisis (Brand & Wissen, 2017). The term "energy transition," the focus of this entire article, was first used in the German-speaking world in the 1980s in a book report by the Oko-Institut Freiburg (Krause et al., 1980). This book presented an alternative to the intensive energy growth model and responded to the Club of Rome report "The Limits to Growth." Moreover, this term expressed one of the disputes of the environmental movement against nuclear energy production and its military uses, advocating for a transition towards a post-fossil society based on renewable energies. It was not until the 2000s that this notion was more thoroughly explored in academia (Coenen et al., 2012) and acquired the multiple meanings it encompasses today (Duruisseau, 2014; De Perthuis, 2017).

3According to Beigel (2015), the phenomenon of academic knowledge circulation has been structured since the mid-20th century into a Global Academic System (GAS), whose backbone is based on a triple interrelated hierarchy among the institution of origin, language, and discipline. This has differentiated mainstream and peripheral science, which is linked to internationalized circuits and national or "marginal" circuits. This American model of science is based on the creation of the Science Citation Index (SCI), an evaluative and quality measurement standard for knowledge, which establishes citation indices, a hierarchy of English-language journals, and the impact factor established by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) (Beigel & Salatino, 2015; Beigel et al., 2022). Transformations in international circulation have changed scientific peripheries, generating two different approaches: the growth of internationalized researcher elites, linked to the production and knowledge logics of mainstream science, disconnected from the local agenda, and, on the other hand, a dynamic local circuit relatively isolated from international debates. This is reflected in a simultaneous increase in publications in conventional journals and dynamism in the local circuit, even if it is possible to find groups with multi-scalar and multilingual research agendas (Beigel et al., 2018; Beigel et al., 2022).

  • 1 It is understood that the binary approach of Social Sciences and Environmental Sciences (Human Geog (...)

4Thus, this article explores the academic debates surrounding contemporary energy transitions, focusing on the topics developed in global research within Social and Environmental Sciences1 and their consonances or divergences with what is produced in Argentina. Indeed, knowledge circuits in Latin America are heterogeneous. The scientific field, composed of researchers, institutes, editorial circuits, and institutional evaluative cultures, responds to scientific and institutional policies and specific trajectories of each country, which have had a particular socio-historical development. Therefore, Argentina represents a relevant case to study, as it has an extensive, complex, and specific scientific field development with diverse production and circulation profiles. It is a dynamic and professionalized scientific field of a public nature, linked to the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) and the federal network of National Universities (Beigel et al., 2018), making it a relevant case for comparison with mainstream global science in English intended for this research.

5The guiding questions for this work are: What are the circuits/traditions/perspectives of scientific production within which the debates on energy transitions in Argentina are framed? What are Argentina's particularities, alignments, and divergences compared to global research? What are the relative academic agreements and discrepancies, especially between scientific production in English and Argentine production, mostly carried out in Spanish? We start from the following hypotheses: 1) The Argentine academy writes and develops the discussion on energy transitions in scientific circuits other than the discussion in English (global debate) and mainly in Spanish. 2) The academic dialogue between Argentine social sciences and global production regarding the energy transition is minimal. This could be related to the differences in interpretation of the development-environment issue.

6The article is structured in three parts. The first one presents and develops the bibliometric method. The second one develops the central discussions on the energy transition in the primary circuit of the conventional current, taking up and analyzing the theoretical debates that are addressed. The third part presents the energy transition in Argentina, first its particular situation, then a typology of academic production, underlying by so doing the main debates. Finally, we conclude on the low level of interconnection and dialogue in different productive circuits, both between mainstream one and peripheral one, and between the different academic Argentina groups. As a suggestion, institutional and academic convergence possibilities are presented to strengthen the transition's diagnosis, analysis, and orientation.

1. Methodology

  • 2 Scopus covers peer-reviewed journal articles and other publications in biological sciences (over 43 (...)
  • 3 To a lesser extent Environmental Sciences, and interdisciplinary frontier fields of study, since it (...)
  • 4 We feel that for the following article, it is unnecessary to enter into the debate of Global South (...)

7Concerning the overview on the mainstream circuits, the methodology employed involved searching the Scopus database2 for scientific articles on the topic of energy transition, with the search terms limited to those in the Social Science category3 in the English language4. The articles were selected based on the highest citation category in English. The search yielded 1246 articles, of which the ten most cited articles, with more than 200 citations, were considered (the last search was carried out in April 2024). These articles were published after 2009 and in an average period of less than ten years. The articles are in the following journals: Energy Research & Social Science, Energy Policy, Futures, Policy Sci, Policy Sciences, Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, and Journal of Industrial Ecology.

8For the collection of literature produced in Argentina, we used exactly the same mechanism used in the Scopus database for English-language resources. The search for the keyword "energy transition" was limited to social sciences and the country "Argentina". The initial search yielded 67 articles. We performed a manual review to ensure accuracy and minimize search engine errors. Each text was filtered by title, keyword and author, yielding 40 articles focused explicitly on the energy transition (Tab. 1 and Fig. 1).

Table 1

Repository

Scopus

Articles

40

Argentine authors

5 Carrizo, S et al. - 4 Clementi, L et al. - 2 Guerrero, A - 2 Escosteguy, M (first author) - 2 Flensborg, K et al. - 1 Alonso Clavijo, A - 1 Cardoso, M; González, A - 1 Caruana,M - 1 Chévez, P - 1 Diáz Paz, W et al. - 1 Gómel, D; Romero, C - 1 Ferro, G (first author) - 1 Guzowski, C et al. - 1 Heredia, F. Martinez, A, Surraco, V. - 1 Ise, A et al. - 1 Jáuregui, J - 1 Krapovickas, J - 1 Kuchen, E, Kozak,D - 1 Kazimierski, M - 1 Lende, S - 1 Martin, M - 1 Mousinho, M - 1 Neuman, M - 1 Nogar, A et al. - 1 Rabinovich, G - 1 Recalde, M - 1 Riera, S - 1 Ruggeri, E, Garrido, S - 1 Villalba, S et al. -1 Wyczikier, G, Acacio, J

Affiliation

CONICET, FLACSO, FCSO, INTA, UBA, UNS, UNSA, UNLP, UNICEN, UNGS, UNSJ, UNSAL

Journals

3 Revue de Géographie Alpine, 2 Journal of Energy and Natural Resources Law, 2 Energy Research and Social Science, 2 Energy for Sustainable Development, 2 Habitat Sustentable, 2 Economia, Sociedad y Territorio, 2 Revista Colombiana de Geografía, 2 Revue de Geographie Alpine, 1 Agua y Territorio, 1 Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 1 Technology in society, 1 Global Transitions, 1 Resources Policy, 1 Mountain Research and Development, 1 Finisterra; 1 Extractive Industries and Society, 1 Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 1 International Journal of the Commons, 1 International Journal of Sustainable Energy, 1 Ambiente e Sociedade, 1 Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, 1 Problemas del Desarrollo, 1 Anales de Geografia de la Universidad Complutense, 1 Espaces et Societes, 1 Estudos Avancados, 1 Perfiles Latinoamericanos, 1 Caravelle, 1 Revista Geográfica Venezolana, 1 The Palgrave Handbook of Natural Gas, 1 AUS, 1 Turismo y Sociedad

The Argentinean academic literature on energy transition depending on Scopus

Ramirez Guirao, 2024

  • 5 Diamond Open Access scientific journal network diamond, global non-commercial infrastructure, owned (...)
  • 6 Electronic library that forms an Ibero-American network of scientific journal collections in full t (...)
  • 7 LA Referencia, a Latin American network of open access repositories, integrates scientific articles (...)

9To have broader scope in capturing multidisciplinary academic articles produced in Argentina, a search was carried out in Redalyc (Scientific Journals of Latin America, Caribbean, Spain & Portugal Network)5, based on the keyword "energy transition" filtered in multidisciplinary and Argentinean publications: 709 articles were found in this search. The same procedure has been made with Scielo Scientific Electronic Library Online6 , which resulted in 88 articles, and with LA Referencia - Latin American Federated Network of Institutional Repositories of Scientific Publications7, which resulted in 172 articles. Because search engines have a narrow “advanced search” and “establish filters,” a manual review was carried out (to have greater search precision) on the three searches; that is, article by article was observed under the title criterion, the authors and keywords. The results obtained are shown in Table 2 and Figures 2, 3 and 4. This predominantly qualitative selection is because Latin America is at the forefront of the non-commercial open-access movement. As a result, most of its journals—over 7,000—are indexed in regional systems like Redalyc, Scielo, and Latindex Catalog. In contrast, thousands of others are not indexed in any repository, and only a few are indexed in WoS or Scopus. The Argentine case reflects the same phenomenon; many highly relevant and academically rigorous journals and articles are not indexed in Scopus or Web of Science (Clarivate) or have been incorporated into international indexing systems late (Beigel & Salatino, 2015; Beigel et al., 2022).

Figure 1

Figure 1

The main themes in the Argentinean academic literature on energy transition depending on Scopus

Ramirez Guirao, 2024

Table 2

Table 2

The Argentinean academic literature on energy transition depending on open access repositories

Ramirez Guirao, 2024

Figure 2

Figure 2

The main themes in the Argentinean academic literature on energy transition depending on open access repositories: Scielo

Ramirez Guirao, 2024

Figure 3

Figure 3

The main themes in the Argentinean academic literature on energy transition depending on open access repositories: Redalyc

Ramirez Guirao, 2024

Figure 4

Figure 4

The main themes in the Argentinean academic literature on energy transition depending on open access repositories: LA Referencia

Ramirez Guirao, 2024

2. Energy transitions in the global academy

10Energy and energy systems are an ineluctable part of the material reality of social life (Smil, 2010). They are part of most countries' central academic, political, and economic debates. Nevertheless, there is no single definition of energy transition nor a "universally" accepted one, especially since there is a multiplicity of disciplinary approaches - Economy, Sociology of Technology, Political Science, History, and Geography, and at least seven theoretical perspectives (Tab. 3).

2.1. A consensus on the definition of transitions

11From a general point of view concerning Transitions, some scholars find consensus and common ground (Araújo, 2014; Sovacool, 2016; Cherp et al., 2018). According to political scientist James Meadowcroft, broad mode transitions are processes of structural change in the main social subsystems. They involve a change in the dominant rules of the game, a transformation of established technologies and social practices, and a movement from one dynamic equilibrium to another, typically spanning several generations (25 to 50 years). The image of "transition" suggests a definite passage from one state to another, not just movement but arrival; it is a potential for decisive change, which is likely to be messy and open-ended (Meadowcroft, 2009). The perspective of Sustainability Transitions Studies (tab.3) explains the socio-political and technical transformations in the context of environmental crises. These studies have focused on socio-technical modifications, which converge with those proposed by Meadowcroft (2009), adding the multifactorial and dialectical dynamics of the process, as well as the overlapping of uncertainties and the opening of horizons. Even so, these are criticized for their technical bias and lack of territorialization, which implies the crossover between actors and spaces (Loudiyi et al., 2022).

2.2. Energy transitions: general definition and main approaches

12Focusing on the concept of energy transition, we first take the definitions of Benjamin Sovacool (Sovacool, 2016), which he synthesizes from other authors. These definitions point to one of the variables of change, whether fuel or source (from wood to coal, from coal to oil), the use of new industrial and energy technologies, and the time it takes to become this primary energy or main driver in the global market (Smil, 2010; Hirsh & Jones, 2014). The change impacts the economic system, generating a transformation in the patterns of acquisition and use (O'Connor, 2010; Fouquet and Pearson, 2012). To add to the complexity of the issue, Meadowcroft (2009) considers that the transition of energy systems could be defined in four different ways: simultaneously, expanded, compatible, and not necessarily contradictory; the combination of them is an event of a more integrative nature, understood as the search for a new direction of the energy system based on security, affordability, reliability, and carbon neutrality. It is necessary to highlight three aspects of the change in the economic energy system since the energy transition significantly impacts the patterns and behaviours of social subjects, the economic actors of the energy system, and the temporality of the transformation. Therefore, in general, the mechanisms of energy transitions depend more on their scale and depth than on their direction or normatively evaluated effects (Cherp et al., 2018). Hence, Grübler affirms that energy transitions are a change in the state of an energy system rather than a change in individual energy technology or fuel source (Grubler et al., 2016). Finally, the concept of “energy transition” is used in a similar way to an energy “transformation” or “revolution”: a disruptive and radical transformation of both technology and social practices (Sovacool, 2016).

13However, it is possible to distinguish three types of studies. One type of studies focuses on the fuel dimensions (oil, coal, gas, uranium), restricting this process to technological options or the “status quo” that emphasizes continuity with existing infrastructure and limited future visions, while obscuring the social and political dimensions of energy systems. Other perspectives understand technological changes as consequences of the interaction between social actors (suppliers, distributors and users), as well as regulatory, conversion and commercial institutions. The transition to new and “clean” renewable energy systems and electric mobilities requires significant changes in political and economic regulations, such as tariffs, pricing regimes, user behaviors and adaptations (Meadowcroft, 2009; Sovacool, 2016). In this last type we consider energy democracy studies, which connect change in energy infrastructure with the possibilities of profound political, economic and social change. That is, restructuring energy sectors through transition programs from fossil fuel-based systems to renewable energy systems (Stirling, 2014; Burke & Stephens, 2017). Finally, a more transversal definition is that of Kathleen Araújo, who presents energy transition as a change in the way energy is used within a system. This definition recognizes change associated with fuel type, access, supply, delivery, reliability or end use, as well as with the overall orientation of the system. Change can occur at any level, from local to global systems, and is relevant to social practices, preferences, infrastructure and monitoring. The author goes on to discuss the importance of examining transitions from three important aspects: 1) the scale of energy growth and decline, 2) quality, assessing energy density, portability, and environmental and health effects, and finally, 3) the assessment of the three global megatrends with effects on energy and territories: population evolution, urbanization, and cross-border energy flows (Araújo, 2014).

Table 3

Table 3

Seven theoretical analytical approaches to energy transitions in global academia

Ramirez Guirao, 2024. Table prepared based on the approaches of Sovacool (2016), expanded and complemented with (Grubler, 2012; Araújo, 2014)

3. Argentina in the contemporary transition

14The global and intergovernmental public agendas generated in the United Nations, Climate Change conferences, summits (emblematic case of the 1992 Earth Summit), and the Paris Agreement of 2015 have directed the world context towards decarbonization of global energy matrices. These discourses and policies have produced particular repercussions in Argentina. From an empirical point of view, the country has known some recent changes in its strategies (3.1.). These discourses have also some repercussions in the national and regional Latin American academic context, which has nevertheless its discussions and particularities. On this basis, various currents interpret the phenomenon in a particular way in a local academic circuit (3.2.).

3.1. The current state of energy transitions in Argentina

15The Argentinian national perspective outlined in the recent National Energy Transition Plan to 2030, which is a structure of diagnosis, guidelines, and energy policy measures, describes the country's electric matrix with slightly different characteristics about the world. Although dominated by fossil fuels, given the substantial weight of natural gas in energy consumption, representing 48% of the activity and oil representing 36% (the bulk of national emissions), only 2% is coal, a minimal number compared to 27% worldwide, the rest is composed of 6% of renewable energies, 5% hydroelectricity and 3% nuclear (Subsecretaría de Planeamiento Energético, 2023). Argentina's energy policy has two central objectives, the first being the expansion of renewable energies to generate a 20% share of electricity by 2025 (Schaube & Ise, 2022). Argentina has a vast potential for renewable energy, ranking second after Brazil in the Latin American region. It has an enormous wind capacity, favorable conditions for both large and small-scale solar projects, hydroelectric power, and a significant volume of biofuels.

16On the other hand, shale gas extraction in the Neuquén hydrocarbon basin (Vaca Muerta) was boosted to avoid importing liquefied natural gas to meet domestic demand (Schaube et al., 2018). This represents a solid commitment to the gasification process, viewed as a critical energy vector and a means to achieve self-sufficiency in hydrocarbons. However, it is not without financial risks and the possibility of creating stranded assets, which could hinder future options for meeting or increasing emission reduction ambitions (Quirós Tortós, 2023). Additionally, environmental risks are to be considered, such as the potential for induced seismic activity leading to the artificial alteration of the geological substratum (Tamburini et al., 2021), among others.

17In the last century, Argentina underwent two periods of transition of its energy matrix: coal to oil and oil to natural gas (Sabbatella et al., 2020). The latter process started in the 1940s, which consisted of the creation of State Gas, in a succession of State policies based on the experience gained in the exploitation of raw oil, to take advantage of the gas that until that moment was burned in the oil fields (Sabatella, 2023). Argentina is one of the few countries, together with Russia and Iran, which produced this transition to gas, generating an infrastructure development of trunk gas pipelines and home distribution networks and using compressed natural gas as automotive fuel (Carrizo et al., 2016). At the same time, in the post-war period, a path of matrix diversification began, opening the way to hydroelectric energy with the construction of the first large-scale dam, El Chocón, in the 1970s. Binational dams Yacyretá - Apipé (Argentina - Paraguay), in addition to the development of nuclear energy with the creation of the National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA) in 1950 and using a national project (Argentine Nuclear Plan) and a scientific-technical policy of "Technological Autonomy," which, over 40 years, developed three nuclear power plants (Atucha I, Embalse Nuclear Power Plant and Atucha II) (9) and a solid scientific-technical-industrial apparatus that is currently developing a prototype of a small nuclear reactor SMR - Argentine Central of Modular Elements (CAREM). Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico are the only countries in Latin America that produce and are supplied with nuclear energy.

18Finally, different regulatory frameworks began to promote the generation of electricity from renewable sources, such as Law No. 26190, enacted in 2006, which had as a concrete tool the GENREN (Renewable Generation) program, launched in 2009 and promoted by the company Argentina Energy Corporation (ENARSA), which promoted a tender and purchase of 1000 MW, only 895 MW were tendered. Institutional, technical, and financial obstacles generated that only one-fifth of the projects managed to materialize (Barrera et al., 2022; Kazimierski, 2022). Therefore, in 2015, Law No. 27191 and Law No. 27.424 (Distributed Generation) were passed and implemented from 2016 onwards through the RenovAR program and the Management Company of the Wholesale Electricity Market Public Limited Company (CAMMESA). Projects for 5200 MW were awarded. Another 1000 MW of MATER contracts (contracts for large users) were added. This program was marked by an excellent quantitative valuation, given the increase in the participation of renewable energies. Still, criticisms were raised due to its financialization process, the low participation of local technology, and its policy of exclusive form to large projects with high requirements in investment amounts, which led to the economic pitfall of external funding (Garrido, 2020; Barrera et al., 2022; Kazimierski, 2022). In recent years, green hydrogen has also begun to be promoted as an energy vector for the Argentine territories. In 2006, Law No. 26.123, "Regime for the development of technology, production, use, and applications of hydrogen as a fuel and energy vector," was to be enacted. However, it was not passed, and in 2013, the National Hydrogen Plan (PNH) was drawn up, which foresaw the implementation of 24 large projects in different periods. Due to these ups and downs, in 2022, the National Government sent a project to update Law No. 26,123 on Hydrogen Economy, from which a series of projects have emerged, such as Plataforma H2 Argentina, the H2AR consortium (Y -TEC), which proposes a path for hydrogen production, transportation and export (Kazimierski, 2021; Wyczykier, 2022). Currently, the Experimental Hydrogen Plant - Pico Truncado (Santa Cruz), Hychico (Chubut) is in activity and projection with Patagonian geographical centrality, the Pampas Project - Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) (Rio Negro, Chubut), Orkeke (Santa Cruz) and MMEX Resources Corporation (Tierra del Fuego).

19On the other hand, the central area of lithium mining exploitation, the "lithium triangle," geographically located in the High Andean Puna, extended over 43,000 km2, has gained centrality in academic, public, and geopolitical debates. 68% of the principal reserves are in Northwest Argentina, Northeast Chile, and Southwest Bolivia. Mining extraction and exploitation in the area is very heterogeneous between countries, such as in the interior of Argentina. In the latter, lithium is not considered a strategic resource in national regulations; the mining framework of the '90s regulates it with a federal and liberal imprint, and it is open to private investments. Following this pattern, some sectors of the lactiferous business community advocate rapid exploitation as a "window of opportunity" in the upstream segment. Other actors that emphasize industrialization, promoted by the Ministry of Productive Development and CONICET (until 2023), are creating productive and technological capacities for the intermediate and downstream segments of the value chain. (Fornillo et al.,2019; Obaya, 2022).

3.2 The transitions under debate: a possible typology and the circuits of academic production

  • 8 The use of this typology is not intended to be exhaustive or exclusive, nor is it necessarily where (...)

20In Argentina, two types of academic production circuits can be identified. The first is a conventional circuit of Argentine researchers who publish in English in foreign journals, with a production style in which they inscribe their studies in global discussions, frameworks, and authors. A second circuit includes researchers who publish mainly in Spanish, in journals published mainly in Argentina and other South American countries, with production styles that are not permanently inscribed nor generate references to global discussions. These could be generally inserted in publication circuits linked to non-dominant, more alternative Latin American debates, perspectives, and academic forms. The debate surrounding the development-environment cleavage in Argentina is dynamic and continuously contested. It is a complex tapestry of ideas and perspectives, each vying for intellectual dominance. Drawing on the categories proposed by Sacher (2019) for modern environmentalism, we can identify four distinct groups within Argentine academia, each bringing a unique lens to this ongoing debate (Tab. 4)8.

Table 4

Perspective

Development

Popular Ecology

Socio Constructionism

Geography

Key concepts

Development Vector

Energy sovereignty

External Restriction

Decarbonization consensus Accumulation by defossilization

Sociotechnical Imaginings, Energopolitics

Productive trajectories

Energy Landscape, Regional Energy Integration

Territorial transformation

Disciplines

Political Science

Political Economy

Latinoamerican Political Ecology

Social Science

Anthropology

Social Science

Geography

Geopolitics

Main themes

Productive chains

Technological and organizational capabilities

Lithium, hydrocarbons, renewable energies, socio-environmental conflicts

Socio-technical and environmental controversies and tensions

Renewable Energy

Hydrocarbons

Rural spaces

Relationship
with
Global
approaches

Techno-economic paradigms

Sociology

Political Ecology, Human geography

Socio-technical Transitions - Multilevel Perspective, Political Ecology

Human Geography

Economic History

Quotes

Christopher Freeman, Carlota Perez

Vaclav Smil

Jochen Markard Benjamin Sovacool

Peter Newell

Vaclav Smil, Jeremy Rifkin, Stefan Bouzarovski, David Harvey, Timothy Mitchell

Frank Geels

Dominic Boyer

Michael Watts

Timothy Mitchell

Roger Fouquet, Benjamin Sovacool, David Harvey, Kathleen Araújo

Four main approaches of energy transition in Argentinean academic production

Ramirez Guirao, 2024

3.2.1. Developmental group or Realist Technocentrist

21This group focuses on science and technology (S&T) and emphasizes the state's central role in promoting production and industrialization. Scholars stress the importance of the relationship between science, the productive apparatus, and public-private partnerships. Notable academics in this group include Diego Hurtado, Mariano Barrera, Ignacio Sabbatella, Esteban Serrani, Juan Jose Carbajales, Daniel Schteingart and Diego Roger. These academics are researchers from the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET) and various national universities, including the National University of San Martín (UNSAM) and the University of Buenos Aires (UBA). Their academic backgrounds are found in the following research: Hurtado & Souza (2018); Sabatella et al. (2020); Serrani (2020); Barrera et al. (2022), Roger (2023), Roger & Arroyo (2023), Malinovsky & Hurtado (2024). In turn, some of these researchers have held various positions in the national executive during the previous government (2019 - 2023) and in public energy companies (Energía Estratégica, 2021; Argentina, 2022).

22The proposal of this group is based on an energy transition as opposed to what they consider a corporate energy transition, characterized by a clear orientation towards the demands and needs of central and transnational economies, as a way of reactivating a new period of capitalist accumulation and growth. The Green New Deal and the European Green Deal promote these corporate forms of transition. These authors criticize the concepts of technological revolutions, as expressed in the techno-economic paradigm (Tab. 3), for the place they assign to the periphery of the Global South, given that they are Keynesian proposals for central economies and monetarist-neoliberal ones for the peripheries. Therefore, they argue that transition must become a vector of development for semi-peripheral countries such as Argentina, that is, generate better institutional and organizational capacities that transform, through a set of public policies, crucial aspects of Research and Development, production, infrastructure, such as those already developed in technical niches. In turn, the energy system must have sustainability, security, energy self-sufficiency, and territorial equity in access and electricity consumption for the entire population, reducing energy inequality (Hurtado & Souza, 2018; Serrani, 2020; Sabbatella, 2023; Malinovsky & Hurtado, 2024). These ideas are captured in Mission 2 of the Working Document Argentina Productiva 2030 (Argentina Productiva, 2023).

3.2.2. Popular Ecology group or Ecomarxist

23This group holds a markedly critical position and is linked to the anti-extractivist tradition of Latin America. They explicitly promote a just and popular energy transition. The authors in this group are part of various collectives and observatories that address energy issues from a critical perspective. Some members include Maristella Svampa, Martín Kazimierski, Ariel Slipak, Melisa Argento, Pablo Bertinat, Gabriela Wyczykier, Jorge Chemes, and Bruno Fornillo. These academics are linked to the country's Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) and National Universities. Some are associated with the Group of Critical and Interdisciplinary Studies on Energy Issues (GECIPE), the Geopolitics and Common Goods Group, and the Energy Sustainability Observatory (UTN) (see Fornillo, 2019; Bertinat & Chemes, 2020; Argento et al., 2022; Svampa & Bertinat, 2022). Together with other organizations, these researchers have links to socio-environmental activism, have recently created the "Transitions" team, and have international links with the Intercultural Ecosocial Pact of the South (Lo Vuolo, 2024; Equipo Transiciones, 2024; Lang et al. 2024).

  • 9 Series of interconnected and co-constitutive mutually reinforcing crises (Lawrence et al., 2022).

24This perspective takes the transition in the framework of the process of civilizational poly-crisis9 as processes of radical, democratic, and democratizing transformation, thinking of it from an integral change inscribed in a broader process of socio-ecological transition involving the energy, productive, and urban levels, articulating social and environmental justice (Svampa, 2022). The criticism of the "green" energy transition, which contrasts the notion of energy as a commodity in "energivorous" societies with one that understands energy as part of a common good, would be framed in the process of energy colonialism motivated by the capture of new financial incentives, the reduction of the dependence of some countries in search of energy security, the expansion of market niches or the improvement of the image of companies, based on technological and business innovation potentialities. This "decarbonization consensus" maintains the pattern of sustained development in a predatory social metabolism (Bringel & Svampa, 2023) a new opportunity for "accumulation by defossilization" (Argento et al., 2022). From this sector, they introduce a proposal for a Just and Popular Energy Transition, that is, a radical change towards a "post-capitalist" energy system, based on the Manifesto of the Peoples of the South, which raises energy democracy as a horizon, taking energy as an inalienable right and common good (Sur, 2022; Equipo Transiciones, 2024). Finally, this perspective is related to the Anglo-Saxon approaches to Political Ecology (Tab. 3). However, as Martín & Larsimont (2016) analyze, three major dominant trends exist in this field. Latin American political ecology is one of them, and it has a tradition, trajectory, and specific approaches to which this group described contributes.

3.2.3. Social-constructionist

25With conceptual and disciplinary differences, it is possible to identify another group of researchers who analyze the energy phenomenon from an anthropological perspective. These are in the Nucleus of Studies on Society, Environment, and Knowledge belonging to the Institute of Economic and Social Development (IDES) within the University Tres de Febrero (UNTREF) and in the University of Quilmes (UNQ). Their work is based on the intersection of energy - politics - technology, and culture, studying the sociocultural, political, and social transformations that emerge from changes in energy systems. Some of their research backgrounds are Spivak L’Hoste & Hubert (2020), Garrido et al. (2016), Piaz (2020), Hubert & Spivak L’Hoste (2021).

26This group generates analysis from anthropological knowledge and from the social sciences through sociotechnical studies, analysis of society-environment and technology relationships, starting from concepts such as controversies, sociotechnical trajectories and imaginaries, local productive developments, social resistance, and socio-environmental conflicts. Garrido (2021) takes concepts from the multilevel perspective and from transitions toward sustainability to understand the energy transition, which must encompass a process that overcomes the narrow idea of technological substitution. According to this author, there are obstacles to accumulating technical and cognitive capacities developed from introducing science and technology policies over the last 15 years. Still, these have had little impact on techno-productive development (Garrido, 2020, 2021). This author analyzes at a local scale the trajectories of different energy sectors, such as wind power (Garrido et al., 2016), generation from sugarcane biomass, and the trajectory of Distributed Generation (Garrido, 2022). Hubert and Spivak L’Hoste (2021) identify three sociotechnical imaginings of electric power generation in Argentina. The mercantile imaginary, whose main technological driver is the private sector, is the “players” who build and manage, based on the legal instruments promoted by the state, energy production. The developmental imaginary understands the energy sector as a central spring of economic and industrial development and is contained in the search for energy sovereignty, privileging energy management by state-owned companies or national capital. Finally, the imaginary socio-environmental justice focuses on diversifying the energy matrix and its concentrated character in production and distribution, as well as respecting the environment and populations surrounding energy ventures (Hubert & Spivak L’Hoste, 2020). On this last point, Piaz (2020) studies the processes of social resistance sustained over three decades against the production process of nuclear electricity in the Province of Cordoba (Piaz, 2020). On the other hand, Iñigo Carrera et al. (2022) investigate the plots between political energy and culture, where they show in the case studied (Catriel and Comarca Andina) that previous social configurations modify the energy production processes and are, in turn, new producers of economic, political and social dynamics, in which clear dynamics of energopolitics are played out, where it produces evidence of environmental and territorial conflict (Iñigo Carrera et al. 2022).

3.2.4. Geography

27Another group of researchers in the Argentine academy also focused on geography and others on interdisciplinary approaches, which cannot be classified with the previously proposed typology. Authors like Gabriel Blanco and Daniela Keesler conduct rigorous studies on future energy models and scenarios (Blanco & Keesler, 2022) belonging to the Center for Environmental Technologies and Energy (CTAE) from the National University of the Center of the Province of Buenos Aires (UNICEN). Others carry out studies on socio-productive complexes associated with solar energy value chains in regions of Western Argentina, and this is the case of Canafoglia (2023) research of CONICET. One of the groups of researchers is focused on geographic perspectives, territorial reconfigurations, geopolitics, and socio-technical trajectories. Most of these academics are linked to the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), a group of researchers who are also enrolled academically in different national universities in the Province of Buenos Aires. Some of his work can be found in the following research: Belmonte, et al. (2009), Carrizo et al. (2016), Furlan (2017), Recalde et al. (2018), Guzowski et al. (2020), Carrizo & Jacinto (2021), Guerrero (2021), Nogar et al. (2021), Clementi & Carrizo (2022).

28For these authors, the analysis of energy landscapes still needs to be explored in academic research within Argentina. It is crucial to develop frameworks that examine how energy interacts with landscapes over time. Energy transitions go beyond technological changes; they reshape how societies use and inhabit space, impacting energy production, access, and consumption (Carrizo & Jacinto, 2021; Villalba et al., 2021; Nogar et al. 2021; Clementi & Carrizo, 2022). Large-scale energy projects like wind farms, both onshore and offshore, visually transform landscapes, making energy infrastructure prominent in the environment – a concept known as "energy landscapes" (Clementi & Carrizo, 2022). Argentina's centralized energy management fosters dependencies on existing infrastructure, hindering the exploration of new resources (Villalba et al., 2021). Guerrero (2021) strongly advocates for the integration of energy geopolitics into broader discussions of energy transformation. This integration is crucial as it involves conflicts over resources and influences infrastructure development, security, and regional integration in South America. Since the 1990s, natural gas has played a vital role in South America's regional integration with the construction of gas pipelines from Argentina and Bolivia to Brazil, Uruguay, and Chile. At the same time, electricity lines were built from Argentina to Brazil. The contradiction between sovereignty and integration and the problem of energy shortages and crises can be resolved through greater integration (Carrizo & Velut, 2018). This field is of utmost importance as it underscores how energy shapes power dynamics and geographical relationships (Furlan, 2010). Energy geopolitics plays a pivotal role in global relations due to fossil fuel exploitation and the transition to decarbonization in leading countries, thereby impacting how peripheral countries integrate into the global energy landscape (Svampa, 2022).

29Finally, all of these elements show that the Argentinean approaches have some links to the theoretical approaches of the global scheme (Tab. 3); at the same time, there is a scarce academic relationship between these authors and their respective work groups.

Conclusions

30The importance of the transition is presented as something urgent to study and address in the multidisciplinary field by the social sciences. It is observed that the relationship between theoretical, methodological, and applied deepening between global and national scientific circuits is scarce and incipient. In turn, productions in English primarily cover the theoretical issue and the analysis of contemporary transition processes, possibly explained by the greater concrete and material advances already being deployed in the Global North and, therefore, generate demand for theoretical analysis and importance in the social and academic agenda. This study and scientific production process in Argentina are relatively underway. According to the search carried out and its treatment, it can be seen that from 2014 to 2015, the academy began to include energy transition processes in its agenda. However, it should be noted that the discussion agenda is limited to national processes, with no exchanges and dialogues with academics from other territories or general debate on the problem. It is also important to highlight those two visions have developed a theoretical corpus for this process. One based on a critical discourse rooted in environmental and Latin American thought, which problematizes this process and has generated its conceptualizations to understand what is happening in Argentina and Latin America; also, the developmental discourse has a precise theoretical and political positioning, despite this, there is no theoretical academic exchange, but rather a critique of the large agencies, global and intergovernmental organizations and companies that drive this process. Following Stirling (2014), it is a question of rigor and the need to open the space for a broad and solid public debate. From this, it is possible to think about the great potential of academic interaction to develop this debate with an open character and under a plurality of voices. The involvement and interweaving of various academic sectors and agencies (from the perspective of sociological terms) are necessary for interpreting the transitions and giving orientations or steps that allow resolving energy issues in public policies, social implications, and environmental justice.

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Notes

1 It is understood that the binary approach of Social Sciences and Environmental Sciences (Human Geography and Physical Geography) in environmental issues is progressively being abandoned, therefore, this hybrid, dynamic, and borderless field generically called "Environmental Sciences" was added.

2 Scopus covers peer-reviewed journal articles and other publications in biological sciences (over 4300 titles), health sciences (over 6800 titles), physical sciences (over 7200 titles), and social sciences and humanities (5300+ titles). It is one of the two most widely used and renowned periodical databases. The coverage and functionality of Scopus make it the most reasonable choice. Web of Science/Knowledge (Clarivate) would be another possible option.

3 To a lesser extent Environmental Sciences, and interdisciplinary frontier fields of study, since it is complex (and perhaps unproductive) to establish such a sharp division between Social Sciences and other fields related to environmental studies.

4 We feel that for the following article, it is unnecessary to enter into the debate of Global South - Global North or Centre - Periphery, both of which could be possible categories to describe academic differences. But they would divert the focus of the paper. We understand that English is the central language in scientific and academic work and therefore relevant and sufficient for the comparison made.

5 Diamond Open Access scientific journal network diamond, global non-commercial infrastructure, owned by academia. The Network has 798,632 articles, and 1585 online journals, divided into 947 journals of Social Sciences, 13 multidisciplinary, 410 of Natural and Exact Sciences, 215 of Arts and Humanities, https://www.redalyc.org/home.oa

6 Electronic library that forms an Ibero-American network of scientific journal collections in full text and with open, free, and open access. The journals that make up the SciELO-Argentina collection cover all areas of knowledge and have the reliability that comes from being part of the Basic Nucleus of Argentine Scientific Publications and with the scientific rigor of their articles evaluated by peers, who are members of the Scientific Advisory Committee appointed by CONICET. https://www.scielo.org/

7 LA Referencia, a Latin American network of open access repositories, integrates scientific articles, and doctoral and master's theses from more than a hundred universities and research institutions from the ten member countries, including Argentina. Non-commercial global infrastructure owned by the academy. https://www.lareferencia.info/es/

8 The use of this typology is not intended to be exhaustive or exclusive, nor is it necessarily where these authors describe themselves; in some cases, they are not entirely clear ascriptions, but rather, there are trajectories that run through grey areas of our typology. Even so, it can potentially describe the cleavage of the environmentalism-developmentalism debate.

9 Series of interconnected and co-constitutive mutually reinforcing crises (Lawrence et al., 2022).

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Table des illustrations

Titre Figure 1
Légende The main themes in the Argentinean academic literature on energy transition depending on Scopus
Crédits Ramirez Guirao, 2024
URL http://journals.openedition.org/geocarrefour/docannexe/image/24401/img-1.png
Fichier image/png, 116k
Titre Table 2
Légende The Argentinean academic literature on energy transition depending on open access repositories
Crédits Ramirez Guirao, 2024
URL http://journals.openedition.org/geocarrefour/docannexe/image/24401/img-2.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 346k
Titre Figure 2
Légende The main themes in the Argentinean academic literature on energy transition depending on open access repositories: Scielo
Crédits Ramirez Guirao, 2024
URL http://journals.openedition.org/geocarrefour/docannexe/image/24401/img-3.png
Fichier image/png, 108k
Titre Figure 3
Légende The main themes in the Argentinean academic literature on energy transition depending on open access repositories: Redalyc
Crédits Ramirez Guirao, 2024
URL http://journals.openedition.org/geocarrefour/docannexe/image/24401/img-4.png
Fichier image/png, 114k
Titre Figure 4
Légende The main themes in the Argentinean academic literature on energy transition depending on open access repositories: LA Referencia
Crédits Ramirez Guirao, 2024
URL http://journals.openedition.org/geocarrefour/docannexe/image/24401/img-5.png
Fichier image/png, 148k
Titre Table 3
Légende Seven theoretical analytical approaches to energy transitions in global academia
Crédits Ramirez Guirao, 2024. Table prepared based on the approaches of Sovacool (2016), expanded and complemented with (Grubler, 2012; Araújo, 2014)
URL http://journals.openedition.org/geocarrefour/docannexe/image/24401/img-6.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 321k
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Julián I. Ramírez Guirao, « Energy transitions in Argentina: agendas, debates and current academic perspectives »Géocarrefour [En ligne], 98/3-4 | 2024, mis en ligne le 28 avril 2025, consulté le 17 mai 2025. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/geocarrefour/24401 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/13tpn

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Auteur

Julián I. Ramírez Guirao

Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (IANIGLA – CONICET)

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