Resumo

CALIGARI, Rubén. Argentina’s energy restriction in the coal era, 1860-1907. Ciclos hist. econ. soc. [online]. 2023, vol.34, n.60, pp.7-7. ISSN 1851-3735.

The influence of limited access to competitive energy sources on the development of Argentina in the period of national organization is analyzed in this paper. It is the period of coal, power source of the industrial revolution and the basis of England's global dominance, a mineral that Argentina lacks, unlike countries -in other senses analogous- such as Australia and Chile, where coal mining fostered industrialization.

British coal imports, a burden on the external balance of the Argentine economy, were fluently integrated into the model and attenuated eventual protectionist measures. Initiatives have been identified showing that local ruling classes were not indifferent to the issue and, both in public and private sectors, aimed at supplying the resource. Despite the efforts, projects failed due to structural deficiencies and adverse geological conditions.

When electricity is incorporated as a factor for transforming production, dependence on imported coal increased since the production concentrates in the plains, far from mountain rivers, thus limiting the contribution of hydraulic generation. The first industrial exploitation of oil in the territory, which failed due to the structural limitations of the model, is also studied. Despite the vision and the efforts, Argentina, a country with industrialist aspirations, went through the period as an importer of practically all the energy it needed.

Palavras-chave : Natural resources,energy,oil; coal.