Material and energy flows in the materials production, assembly, and end-of-life stages of the automotive lithium-ion battery life cycle

Dunn, Jennifer B.; Gaines, Linda; Barnes, Matt; Wang, M.; Sullivan, J. L.

doi:10.2172/1044525

Cited by 99 publications

(145 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…; Dunn et al. ). However, we have used the more conservative and currently commercialized hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical recycling processes for the LMO chemistry, as demonstrated by Fisher and colleagues (), for a European recycling facility, considering the uncertainty in future commercial recycling procedures.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…) and previously characterized by LCAs (e.g., Notter et al ; Dunn et al. ; Amarakoon et al. ; Richa et al.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…; Dunn et al. , ; Amarakoon et al. ), recycling will never be 100% efficient and can only recoup a fraction of the embodied energy for materials—it does not even address energy input to battery assembly and manufacturing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Eco‐Efficiency Analysis of a Lithium‐Ion Battery Waste Hierarchy Inspired by Circular Economy

Richa

Babbitt

Gaustad

2017

J of Industrial Ecology

184

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A circular economy (CE)-inspired waste management hierarchy was proposed for end-oflife (EOL) lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) from electric vehicles (EVs). Life cycle eco-efficiency metrics were then applied to evaluate potential environmental and economic trade-offs that may result from managing 1,000 end-of-life EV battery packs in the United States according to this CE hierarchy. Results indicate that if technology and markets support reuse of LIBs in used EVs, the net benefit would be 200,000 megajoules of recouped cumulative energy demand, which is equivalent to avoiding the production of 11 new EV battery packs (18 kilowatt-hours each). However, these benefits are magnified almost tenfold when retired EV LIBs are cascaded in a second use for stationary energy storage, thereby replacing the need to produce and use less-efficient lead-acid batteries. Reuse and cascaded use can also provide EV owners and the utility sector with cost savings, although the magnitude of future economic benefits is uncertain, given that future prices of battery systems are still unknown. In spite of these benefits, waste policies do not currently emphasize CE strategies like reuse and cascaded use for batteries. Though loop-closing LIB recycling provides valuable metal recovery, it can prove nonprofitable if high recycling costs persist. Although much attention has been placed on landfill disposal bans for batteries, results actually indicate that direct and cascaded reuse, followed by recycling, can together reduce eco-toxicity burdens to a much greater degree than landfill bans alone. Findings underscore the importance of life cycle and eco-efficiency analysis to understand at what point in a CE hierarchy the greatest environmental benefits are accrued and identify policies and mechanisms to increase feasibility of the proposed system. Keywords:circular economy eco-efficiency industrial ecology lithium-ion battery waste management hierarchy waste policy Supporting information is linked to this article on the JIE website Conflict of interest statement: The authors have no conflict to declare.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…) and previously characterized by LCAs (e.g., Notter et al ; Dunn et al. ; Amarakoon et al. ; Richa et al.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Eco‐Efficiency Analysis of a Lithium‐Ion Battery Waste Hierarchy Inspired by Circular Economy

Richa

Babbitt

Gaustad

2017

J of Industrial Ecology

184

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“…Note that energy data reported in Zackrisson and colleagues () and Majeau‐Bettez and colleagues () include battery assembly as well as cell manufacture. Dunn and colleagues () based their energy data on a quote for a dry room (provided by dry room manufacturer SCS Systems) and calculated energy required for formation cycling (Dunn et al ). The USEPA () based their energy data partly on proprietary industry sources and partly on Majeau‐Bettez and colleagues ().…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life Cycle Assessment of a Lithium‐Ion Battery Vehicle Pack

Ellingsen

Majeau‐Bettez

Singh

et al. 2013

J of Industrial Ecology

530

512

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Electric vehicles have no tailpipe emissions, but the production of their batteries leads to environmental burdens. In order to avoid problem-shifting, a life cycle perspective should be applied in the environmental assessment of traction batteries. The goal of this study is to provide a transparent inventory for a lithium-ion nickel-cobalt-manganese traction battery based on primary data and to report its cradle-to-gate impacts. The study was carried out as a processbased attributional life cycle assessment. The environmental impacts were analyzed using midpoint indicators. The global warming potential of the 26.6 kilowatt-hour (kWh), 253 kg battery pack was found to be 4.6 tonnes carbon dioxide equivalents. Regardless of impact category, the production impacts of the battery are caused mainly by the production chains of battery cell manufacture, the positive electrode paste, and the negative current collector. The robustness of the study was tested through sensitivity analysis, and results were compared with preceding studies. Sensitivity analysis indicates that the most effective approach to reduce climate change emissions would be to produce the battery cells with electricity from a cleaner energy mix. On a per-kWh basis, cradle-to-gate greenhouse gas emissions of the battery are within the range of those reported in preceding studies. Contribution and structural path analysis allowed for identification of the most impact-intensive processes and value chains. This article provides an inventory based mainly on primary data, which can easily be adapted to subsequent EV studies, and offers improved understanding of environmental burdens pertaining to lithium ion traction batteries.3

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“…Currently, EOL LIBs are only collected and recycled at a rate of less than 5%, in the absence of strong government regulations and economic incentives for recycling . Recycling can ease the environmental burden and replenish valuable nature resources such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel, significantly cut down energy consumption and cost during battery production …”

Section: Energy Consumptions For Virgin Lco and Recycled Lcomentioning

confidence: 99%

An Effective Relithiation Process for Recycling Lithium‐Ion Battery Cathode Materials

Yang

et al. 2019

Advanced Sustainable Systems

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Rapid adoption of lithium‐ion batteries for electronics and electric vehicles requires cost‐effective and efficient recycling of battery components especially the valuable cathode active materials. The direct recycling method transforms end‐of‐life (EOL) cathode materials into battery grade materials with minimal energy consumption and least environmental disruption. In direct recycling, the relithiation step to restore the lithium stoichiometry of the cathode materials is critical. In this work, a novel electrochemical relithiation approach in an aqueous electrolyte followed by a heat treatment for recycling cathode materials in EOL lithium‐ion batteries is demonstrated and analyzed. Using LiCoO2 as an example, it is shown that the recycled LiCoO2 materials show equivalent crystal structure, morphology, and electrochemical performance to the commercial LiCoO2.

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Material and energy flows in the materials production, assembly, and end-of-life stages of the automotive lithium-ion battery life cycle

Cited by 99 publications

References 12 publications

Eco‐Efficiency Analysis of a Lithium‐Ion Battery Waste Hierarchy Inspired by Circular Economy

Eco‐Efficiency Analysis of a Lithium‐Ion Battery Waste Hierarchy Inspired by Circular Economy

Life Cycle Assessment of a Lithium‐Ion Battery Vehicle Pack

An Effective Relithiation Process for Recycling Lithium‐Ion Battery Cathode Materials

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