Argentina has extraordinary ingredients for renewable energy—especially in Patagonia, where winds are strong and steady, and in the nation’s sunny central and northwest regions. Regrettably, the country’s failure to harness that potential has been no less impressive. In 1998, Argentina’s Congress passed a bill declaring renewable energy “in the national interest,” and created incentives for investment in the sector. That effort failed largely due to a punishing economic downturn in 2001. In 2006, Congress tried again, passing a law calling for renewables to meet 8% of electricity demand by 2016. Financing problems doomed that attempt. Now, nearly two decades since passage of the original renewable-energy law, the country has precious little progress to show. Argentina gets just 2% of its electricity from renewables... [Log in to read more]