Electromobility, CNG solutions outlined in Argentine financing program

Argentina’s federal energy department published a list of goods and services eligible for financing under a sustainable mobility program.

The move follows the signing in August of an agreement with state-owned Banco de la Nación, which may eventually be joined by other lenders, a government resolution states.

Both businesses and individuals can apply for financing, which will be granted on favorable terms.

Objectives of the sustainable mobility program are promoting electromobility and the adoption of compressed natural gas (CNG), and eventually LNG, as fuels.

“The energy sector is in a critical operational situation because of two decades of under-financing and under-investment, and energy efficiency is fundamental to avoid unnecessary demand and to contribute to a reduction in sector greenhouse gas emissions,” the resolution states.

“Energy efficiency is a fundamental pillar of the energy transition and is the counterpart of rate sincerity and the restructuring of the energy consumption subsidy scheme, given it permits a cushioning of the impacts on costs of production and on user costs.”

Financing is geared to purchases of goods that improve efficiency and trim emissions as well as the commissioning of fueling/charging infrastructure studies.

The resolution also mandates the creation of the sustainability program, with the sub-department of energy transition and planning tasked with coordinating the financing program and working with lenders.

Eligible products include forklift trucks, electric motorbikes, compressed natural gas equipment and software and telemetry equipment.

The list may eventually be amended, the resolution states.

The energy sector, where natural gas plays a major role, accounts for 45% of Argentina’s carbon dioxide emissions, according to UN data, based on 2020 total emissions of 376Mt of CO2 equivalent. The farming and forestry sector also accounted for 45%, with waste accounting for 5% and industrial processes the remaining 5%.

Argentina, working to boost hydrocarbons production and exports, is aiming for carbon neutrality by 2050. 

NGO Climate Action Tracker rates Argentina’s climate targets and policies as “critically insufficient.”

The list can be downloaded from the Documents box at the top-right of the page.