Environmental impact assessment on production and material supply stages of lithium-ion batteries with increasing demands for electric vehicles
01 Mar 2021-Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management (Springer Japan)-Vol. 23, Iss: 2, pp 470-479
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the impact of lithium ion battery (LiB) production for a vehicle with recycling during its life cycle, and they found that GHG emissions can be reduced by only 4.5% while water consumption can reduce by as much as 13% among Ni-supplying countries, such as Indonesia, with recycling under the closed-loop cycle.
Abstract: Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) have been expected to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other environmental impacts. However, GHG emissions of lithium ion battery (LiB) production for a vehicle with recycling during its life cycle have not been clarified. Moreover, demands for nickel (Ni), cobalt, lithium, and manganese, which are materials for batteries, are increasing, but they are located in relatively dry areas, and mining is a water-intensive activity. Thus, the environmental impact of water use in mining areas has been raised as an issue, but many unknowns remain. We estimated the demand and scrapped amount for these metals for vehicle LiB until 2030 in Japan to clarify the internal structure of the life cycle impact. We also evaluated the cradle-to-gate GHG emissions from the batteries and the water consumption in Japan’s supplier countries for these metals and their potential of reduction rate with or without pyrometallurgical or hydrometallurgical recycling. We found that GHG emissions can be reduced by only 4.5%, whereas water consumption can be reduced by as much as 13% among Ni-supplying countries, such as Indonesia, with recycling under the closed-loop cycle.
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01 May 2022
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors provide a perspective of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in order to determine and overcome the environmental impacts with a focus on Li-ion battery production process, also the details regarding differences in previous LCA results and their consensus conclusion about environmental sustainability of LIBs.
Abstract: Evolving technological advances are predictable to promote environmentally sustainable development. Regardless the development of novel technologies including Li-ion batteries production, it is unrevealed whether emerging advances can cause lower environmental impacts compared to a future displaced developed technology. Therefore, a strong interest is triggered in the environmental consequences associated with the increasing existence of Lithium-ion battery (LIB) production and applications in mobile and stationary energy storage system. Various research on the possible environmental implications of LIB production and LIB-based electric mobility are available, with mixed results that are difficult to compare. Therefore, this paper provides a perspective of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in order to determine and overcome the environmental impacts with a focus on LIB production process, also the details regarding differences in previous LCA results and their consensus conclusion about environmental sustainability of LIBs. An overview of the analysis, the results and comparison of 80 selected studies is presented. This study also aims to adopt a scientific framework to LCA in order to identify the qualities and shortcomings of this method of analysis. Based on the results from reviewed studies, meta-analysis, different calculations and estimations of the environmental impacts of LIB production along with the outcomes of the different studies are also pointed out. Moreover, significance of key parameters for the environmental interpretation of not only Li-ion batteries but also next generation batteries is taken into account.
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References
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Université de Sherbrooke1, École Polytechnique de Montréal2, United States Environmental Protection Agency3, Technical University of Berlin4, University of British Columbia5, University of Padua6, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology7, Wageningen University and Research Centre8, International Institute of Minnesota9, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation10, University of the Free State11, University of Tokyo12, ETH Zurich13
TL;DR: This method represents the state of the art of the current knowledge on how to assess potential impacts from water use in LCA, assessing both human and ecosystem users’ potential deprivation, at the midpoint level, and provides a consensus-based methodology for the calculation of a water scarcity footprint as per ISO 14046.
Abstract: Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been used to assess freshwater-related impacts according to a new water footprint framework formalized in the ISO 14046 standard. To date, no consensus-based approach exists for applying this standard and results are not always comparable when different scarcity or stress indicators are used for characterization of impacts. This paper presents the outcome of a 2-year consensus building process by the Water Use in Life Cycle Assessment (WULCA), a working group of the UNEP-SETAC Life Cycle Initiative, on a water scarcity midpoint method for use in LCA and for water scarcity footprint assessments. In the previous work, the question to be answered was identified and different expert workshops around the world led to three different proposals. After eliminating one proposal showing low relevance for the question to be answered, the remaining two were evaluated against four criteria: stakeholder acceptance, robustness with closed basins, main normative choice, and physical meaning. The recommended method, AWARE, is based on the quantification of the relative available water remaining per area once the demand of humans and aquatic ecosystems has been met, answering the question “What is the potential to deprive another user (human or ecosystem) when consuming water in this area?” The resulting characterization factor (CF) ranges between 0.1 and 100 and can be used to calculate water scarcity footprints as defined in the ISO standard. After 8 years of development on water use impact assessment methods, and 2 years of consensus building, this method represents the state of the art of the current knowledge on how to assess potential impacts from water use in LCA, assessing both human and ecosystem users’ potential deprivation, at the midpoint level, and provides a consensus-based methodology for the calculation of a water scarcity footprint as per ISO 14046.
455 citations
TL;DR: The results of the analysis show that the manufacturing phase is relevant to all assessed impact categories (contribution higher than 60%) and the contribution to the use phase impact of battery efficiency is larger than that of battery transport.
160 citations
TL;DR: This review explores the current processes and alternative solutions to pyrometallurgy, including novel selective leaching processes or direct recycling approaches, in particular sulfate-based leaching, for recycling Li-ion batteries.
Abstract: An exponential market growth of Li-ion batteries (LIBs) has been observed in the past 20 years; approximately 670,000 tons of LIBs have been sold in 2017 alone. This trend will continue owing to the growing interest of consumers for electric vehicles, recent engagement of car manufacturers to produce them, recent developments in energy storage facilities, and commitment of governments for the electrification of transportation. Although some limited recycling processes were developed earlier after the commercialization of LIBs, these are inadequate in the context of sustainable development. Therefore, significant efforts have been made to replace the commonly employed pyrometallurgical recycling method with a less detrimental approach, such as hydrometallurgical, in particular sulfate-based leaching, or direct recycling. Sulfate-based leaching is the only large-scale hydrometallurgical method currently used for recycling LIBs and serves as baseline for several pilot or demonstration projects currently under development. Conversely, most project and processes focus only on the recovery of Ni, Co, Mn, and less Li, and are wasting the iron phosphate originating from lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries. Although this battery type does not dominate the LIB market, its presence in the waste stream of LIBs causes some technical concerns that affect the profitability of current recycling processes. This review explores the current processes and alternative solutions to pyrometallurgy, including novel selective leaching processes or direct recycling approaches.
146 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compared the CO2 emissions of conventional gasoline and diesel internal combustion engine vehicles (ICV) and battery electric vehicles (BEV), using life-cycle assessment (LCA).
Abstract: In order to reduce vehicle emitted greenhouse gases (GHGs) on a global scale, the scope of consideration should be expanded to include the manufacturing, fuel extraction, refinement, power generation, and end-of-life phases of a vehicle, in addition to the actual operational phase. In this paper, the CO2 emissions of conventional gasoline and diesel internal combustion engine vehicles (ICV) were compared with mainstream alternative powertrain technologies, namely battery electric vehicles (BEV), using life-cycle assessment (LCA). In most of the current studies, CO2 emissions were calculated assuming that the region where the vehicles were used, the lifetime driving distance in that region and the CO2 emission from the battery production were fixed. However, in this paper, the life cycle CO2 emissions in each region were calculated taking into consideration the vehicle’s lifetime driving distance in each region and the deviations in CO2 emissions for battery production. For this paper, the US, European Union (EU), Japan, China, and Australia were selected as the reference regions for vehicle operation. The calculated results showed that CO2 emission from the assembly of BEV was larger than that of ICV due to the added CO2 emissions from battery production. However, in regions where renewable energy sources and low CO2 emitting forms of electric power generation are widely used, as vehicle lifetime driving distance increase, the total operating CO2 emissions of BEV become less than that of ICV. But for BEV, the CO2 emissions for replacing the battery with a new one should be added when the lifetime driving distance is over 160,000 km. Moreover, it was shown that the life cycle CO2 emission of ICV was apt to be smaller than that of BEV when the CO2 emissions for battery production were very large.
139 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a mine water system model is developed and used to show potential water saving strategies through six scenarios, including the introduction of evaporation reduction strategies, paste tailings disposal, filtered tailings recycling, ore pre-sorting and a combination of the most effective options.
137 citations