Industry emissions were considerably higher in 2018 than in 1990, driven primarily by more than doubling of process emissions over this period. In 2018, emissions from the industry sector accounted for around 18% of total emissions.17
In terms of energy-related emissions, the food and beverages industry accounts for the biggest share, followed by the manufacture of chemicals and construction. 1.5°C compatible pathways show the industry sector’s share of electricity in final energy demand increasing to 42-47% by 2030 and 71-78% by 2050 from the 2019 level of 32%. The Argentinian government is encouraging energy diagnostics in industries, intending to improve processes and detect energy efficiency opportunities.18
Cement and lime production are the main sources of industrial process emissions in Argentina, followed by metal industries (iron and steel), the use of products (mainly refrigerants) and chemical industries. Argentina established a sectoral plan focusing on energy efficiency, creating a circular economy, renewable energy and carbon capture and storage (CCS).19 Given that CCS remains commercially unviable with significant uncertainty as to its future ability to provide large-scale abatement, planning heavy future reliance on these technologies involves considerable risk.
1 Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible Argentina. Segunda Contribución Determinada a Nivel Nacional de la República Argentina. UNFCCC, 2020.
2 Climate Action Tracker. Argentina. November 2022 update. Climate Action Tracker. 2022.
3 International Energy Agency (IEA). Argentina Country Profile. 2018.
4 Climate Transparency. BROWN TO GREEN: THE G20 TRANSITION TOWARDS A NET-ZERO EMISSIONS ECONOMY: Argentina. 2019.
5 Climate Action Tracker. Argentina Current Policy Projections. July 2020 update. Climate Action Tracker. 2020.
6 Ministerio de Energía de Argentina. Plan de Acción Nacional de Energía y Cambio Climático [National Action Plan on Energy and Climate Change.] República de Argentina. 2017.
7 El Senado y Cámara de Diputados de la Nación Argentina. Ley 27191: Régimen de Fomento Nacional para el uso de Fuentes Renovables de Energía destinada a la Producción de Energía Eléctrica. Modificación Ley 26190. El Senado y Cámara de Diputados de la Nación Argentina, 2015.
8 Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible. Plan Nacional de Mitigación del sector Transporte – PNMT. 1–83 (2017).
9 Secretaria de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustentable Argentina. Listado de medidas de mitigación y adaptación a nivel nacional (Contribución Nacional ) Febrero 2019. 2019.
10 República de Argentina. Plan de Acción Nacional de Agro y Cambio Climático. 2019.
11 Climate Action Tracker. Argentina. July 2020 update. Climate Action Tracker. 2020.
12 Congreso de la Nación Argentina. Ley 26.331: LEY DE PRESUPUESTOS MINIMOS DE PROTECCION AMBIENTAL DE LOS BOSQUES NATIVOS. El Senado y Cámara de Diputados de la Nación Argentina, 2007.
13 Bauza, V. A New Dawn: Argentina Taps Into Its Renewable Energy Potential. International Finance Corporation, 2017.
14 Caruana, M. E. C. La energía renovable en Argentina como estrategia de política energética e industrial. Probl. del Desarollo 50, 2019.
15 Secretaria de Energia. Energy Balance Argentina 2019. 2019.
16 IEA. National Program for Rational and Efficient Use of Energy. 2017.
17 Government of Argentina. Argentina. Biennial update report (BUR). BUR 4. Submission to the UNFCCC. 2021.
18 Secretaria de Energia & Presidencia de la Nación. Diagnósticos Energéticos.
19 Secretaria de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustentable, Ministerio de Produccion y Trabajo & Presidencia de la Nación. Plan de Acción nacional de Industria y Cambio Climático. 2018.
20 Argentina Government. El Senado convirtió en ley el nuevo régimen de biocombustibles. 2021.
21 Diamante, S. Año récord: cuáles son los autos eléctricos e híbridos que lideran el boom de ventas en la Argentina. La Nacion. 2022.
22 Argentina government. Hidrogeno 2030. 2022.
23 Lanfranchi, J. Hidrógeno verde en la Argentina: están demoradas inversiones millonarias por los tiempos de la política. La Nacion. 2022.
24 While global cost-effective pathways assessed by the IPCC Special Report 1.5°C provide useful guidance for an upper-limit of emissions trajectories for developed countries, they underestimate the feasible space for such countries to reach net zero earlier. The current generation of models tend to depend strongly on land-use sinks outside of currently developed countries and include fossil fuel use well beyond the time at which these could be phased out, compared to what is understood from bottom-up approaches. The scientific teams which provide these global pathways constantly improve the technologies represented in their models – and novel CDR technologies are now being included in new studies focused on deep mitigation scenarios meeting the Paris Agreement. A wide assessment database of these new scenarios is not yet available; thus, we rely on available scenarios which focus particularly on BECCS as a net-negative emission technology. Accordingly, we do not yet consider land-sector emissions (LULUCF) and other CDR approaches.
25 This target is in AR4 GWP; Argentina originally expressed their NDC target in SAR GWP of 359 MtCO₂e excl. LULUCF. Mitigations targets are proportional to relevance of each sector, LULUCF emissions were deducted using the percentage of share expected for 2030.
Argentinaʼs energy mix in the industry sector
petajoule per year
- Natural gas
- Coal
- Oil and e-fuels
- Biofuel
- Biogas
- Biomass
- Hydrogen
- Electricity
- Heat
Argentinaʼs industry sector direct CO₂ emissions (of energy demand)
MtCO₂/yr
- Historical emissions
- SSP1 High CDR reliance
- SSP1 Low CDR reliance
- Low energy demand
Argentinaʼs GHG emissions from industrial processes
MtCO₂e/yr
- SSP1 Low CDR reliance
- SSP1 High CDR reliance
- Low energy demand
- High energy demand - Low CDR reliance
- Historical emissions
1.5°C compatible industry sector benchmarks
Direct CO₂ emissions, direct electrification rates, and combined shares of electricity, hydrogen and biomass from illustrative 1.5°C pathways for Argentina
Indicator | 2019 | 2030 | 2040 | 2050 | Decarbonised industry sector by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Direct CO₂ emissions MtCO₂/yr | 37 | 7 to 17 | 0 to 1 | 0 | 2035 to 2037 |
Relative to reference year in % | −80 to −53% | −99 to −97% | −100% |
Indicator | 2019 | 2030 | 2040 | 2050 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Share of electricity Percent | 32 | 42 to 47 | 63 | 71 to 78 |
Share of electricity, hydrogren and biomass Percent | 40 | 56 to 58 | 69 to 100 | 90 to 100 |