Energy transition in South America: Elite'S views in the mining sector, four cases under study

Abstract

Implementing a transition towards sustainable patterns of energy consumption in the extractive sector, including energy efficiency and renewable energy sources, is an ongoing, but incipient, process in South America. The focus here is on social representations of elites on 'sustainable energy consumption' in the large-scale mining sector in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Ecuador. The concepts of efficiency and non-conventional renewable energy are widely accepted. The main question is: are elite views in these countries favourable to energy transition and energy-sustainable industrial consumption in the extractive sector? Notwithstanding a basic consensus, different views exists on renewable and efficient energy, regulations and policies. In the semantic core of the discourses, the different and contradictory interpretations of elite groups are evident. A qualitative discourse analysis and a descriptive statistics comparison of these differences reveal shifts in meaning, in social positions, and the influence of each country context in the production of these discourses.