Argentina to generate 8% of energy from renewable sources by 2017

Congress launches initiative to boost renewable energy from current 1% of energy mix, with a 20% target agreed for 2020, reports La Nacion

Renewable energy is making inroads in Argentina. Last week, after much negotiation, the chamber of deputies approved a new law decreeing that, by 2017, the country must generate 8% of its electricity from wind, solar or small-scale hydro power, among other energy sources. The bill also calls for this percentage to increase to 20% by 2020. Developing these kinds of energy sources is one of the most efficient mitigation methods in the fight against climate change.

The target is ambitious enough, insofar as renewable energy projects will have to scale up considerably. Today barely 1% of Argentina's energy generation mix is renewable, according to a report from Cammesa in 2014. But experts may see the target as unambitious given the country's potential.