In 2019, direct emissions from transport were 47 MtCO₂e. Argentina has several measures in place targeting the transport sector. One example is a biofuel law implemented in 2006, which promotes the blending of bioethanol in fuels.20
Electric car use remains low in Argentina but is slowly increasing due to tax incentives to improve low import rates. In 2021, 5871 new light passenger vehicles with low-emission mobility were registered, of which 99% were hybrid cars and only 1% plug-in electric vehicles.21 In terms of infrastructure, most EV chargers are concentrated in Buenos Aires, so investments should be made to expand them throughout other parts of Argentina.
In recent years, intentions to invest in green hydrogen using international capital have been announced. Argentina is currently developing a Hydrogen 2030 plan and formulating the regulatory framework.22,23
1.5°C compatible scenarios indicate that the key to achieving decarbonisation of the transport sector is replacing oil demand with electricity, with the share of electricity in total transport energy demand needing to increase to 40-70% by 2050.
In addition, to reduce fossil fuel dependency, Argentina could also promote further actions to improve public transport and modal shift of freight transport.
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.
fn12. 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 transport sector
petajoule per year
- Natural gas
- Coal
- Oil and e-fuels
- Biofuel
- Biogas
- Biomass
- Hydrogen
- Electricity
- Heat
Argentinaʼs transport sector direct CO₂ emissions (of energy demand)
MtCO₂/yr
- Historical emissions
- SSP1 High CDR reliance
- SSP1 Low CDR reliance
- Low energy demand
1.5°C compatible transport sector benchmarks
Direct CO₂ emissions and shares of electricity, biofuels and hydrogen in the transport final energy demand from illustrative 1.5°C pathways for Argentina
Indicator | 2019 | 2030 | 2040 | 2050 | Decarbonised transport sector by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Direct CO₂ emissions MtCO₂/yr | 47 | 25 to 27 | 6 to 10 | 1 to 2 | 2044 to 2049 |
Relative to reference year in % | −47 to −44% | −88 to −79% | −99 to −95% |
Indicator | 2019 | 2030 | 2040 | 2050 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Share of electricity Percent | 0 | 4 to 17 | 20 to 46 | 40 to 70 |
Share of biofuels Percent | 9 | 18 to 25 | 23 to 63 | 28 to 56 |
Share of hydrogen Percent | 0 | 1 to 17 | 6 to 59 | 17 to 66 |