¿New Argentinian energy? Politics, science and industry of lithium batteries

Abstract

The central ambition waking lithium content in the salt mines of northeastern Argentina is to manufacture batteries that are vital to the post-fossil society. We describe the first signs of having lithium batteries in the country and difficulties, the involvement of national and provincial public and private actors. Furthermore, we characterize the situation of Bolivia and Chile, in a general geopolitical framework, regarding this same problem. The general hypothesis of the paper is that sustained overall coordination from the state is necessary to remedy the difficulties that have arisen in the way. However, the chances of producing batteries in the country are open. The work is based on primary and secondary sources, mainly in-depth interviews with scientists, politicians and business conducted in the City of Buenos Aires, Salta and Jujuy