INVESTIGADORES
GONZÁLEZ Facundo David Francisco
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Envisioning a Just transition amidst solar panels and lithium mines: Energy tensions in the Argentine Puna
Autor/es:
CARBALLO, ANA; GONZÁLEZ, FACUNDO DAVID FRANCISCO; ABELEDO, SEBASTÍAN; RODRÍGUEZ NURIA MACARENA
Lugar:
Escocia
Reunión:
Conferencia; ENERGY ETHICS 2021: ENERGY TRANSITIONS & PLANETARY FUTURES; 2021
Institución organizadora:
Universidad de St Andrews
Resumen:
The transition to renewable energy is deeply reconfiguring life in the Argentine Puna. The Puna de Atacama, a high plateau nested amongst the Andes mountains, is an extremely arid area with some of the highest levels of solar radiation in the world. Investment in solar energy is reconfiguring the life of many of the impoverished communities in the area, with the largest solar plant in the country - the 300 MW Cauchari project - inaugurated in 2020. While the plant is the main provider of solar energy to the national grid, many communities remain with unstable or limited access to electricity. To add to a complex energy picture, the Argentine Puna is experiencing a major lithium mining boom, responding to the increasing demand for lithium driven largely by its central role in enabling a renewable energy transition globally. Located amidst the ?Lithium triangle? that holds 60% of worldwide lithium reserves (USGS 2020), there are currently 52 lithium projects in the Puna region at various stages of development?up from only two projects in 2008. The paper unravels the tensions associated to envisioning a just transition for those living at the margins of the global push for renewables, yet, whose lives occur in an area that plays a crucial role in enabling it. Based on fieldwork conducted in the area, this paper focuses on the case study of Olacapato, a 300-inhabitants community, as they negotiate their lives with the lithium mines and the solar plant operating in their territory.