Discussion: Structural Frictions, Regulatory Barriers, and Energy Decarbonization
The coexistence of hydrocarbon extraction and emergent hydrogen infrastructure in Northern Patagonia exposes critical institutional and technological misalignments that challenge smooth decarbonization pathways. Territorial governance in the Vaca Muerta basin remains fraught with socioterritorial tensions, as industrial expansion directly intersects with traditional land uses and indigenous territorialities (Vaca Muerta as Territory of Friction, 2024). The disputes involving the Lof Kaxipayiñ and Lof Fvta Xayen communities illustrate how institutional frameworks often fail to mediate between subterranean resource exploitation and existing surface rights when judicial mechanisms merely react to emergent conflicts (Vaca Muerta as Territory of Friction, 2024). Consequently, superimposing clean energy networks across existing hydrocarbon corridors without robust participatory governance risks reproducing these established structural frictions rather than resolving them. Simultaneously, the technological readiness of regional energy carriers presents substantial physical constraints. While regional decarbonization agendas prioritize hydrogen integration, the technological maturity across storage options remains uneven; material-based hydrogen storage exhibits a very low technology readiness level, whereas physically based systems such as compressed or liquid storage demonstrate higher readiness for immediate infrastructural deployment (Technology Readiness Level of Hydrogen Storage Technologies for Transport, 2023). Therefore, decarbonization strategies cannot rely solely on the theoretical complementarity between shale gas infrastructure and green hydrogen systems. Achieving genuine infrastructural integration across Northern Patagonia requires harmonizing technological investments toward mature physical storage systems while establishing adaptive institutional mechanisms capable of addressing historic land-use claims and structural bottlenecks in regional governance.