Life cycle assessment of future battery chemistries – high storage capacity without scarce resources? LCA battery chemistries

Research Project , 2020 – 2024

Current lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) suffer from the use of several geochemically scarce metals with associated environmental challenges. This project investigates the environmental and resource impacts of future battery chemistries. The over-arching question is: Are there new battery chemistries that can deliver adequate performance and notably reduce the use of scarce metals and environmental impacts in comparison with current state-of-the-art LIBs? To partly answer this question, life cycle assessments (LCA) will be conducted for two of the most promising future chemistries: lithium-sulfur and all-solid-state batteries. An additional new battery chemistry will be selected and assessed during the project and all new chemistries will be compared to current LIBs. The team consists of researchers highly skilled in LCA and battery research. The results will guide funding agencies on which battery chemistries to support and industry on which chemistries to develop and/or invest in.