Prospective Life Cycle Assessment of Lithium-Sulfur Batteries for Stationary Energy Storage

Journal article, 2023

The lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery represents a promisingnext-generationbattery technology because it can reach high energy densities withoutcontaining any rare metals besides lithium. These aspects could giveLi-S batteries a vantage point from an environmental and resourceperspective as compared to lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Whereas LIBsare currently produced at a large scale, Li-S batteries are not. Therefore,prospective life cycle assessment (LCA) was used to assess the environmentaland resource scarcity impacts of Li-S batteries produced at a largescale for both a cradle-to-gate and a cradle-to-grave scope. Six scenarioswere constructed to account for potential developments, with the overallaim of identifying parameters that reduce (future) environmental andresource impacts. The specific energy density and the type of electrolytesalt are the two most important parameters for reducing cradle-to-gateimpacts, whereas for the cradle-to-grave scope, the electricity source,the cycle life, and, again, the specific energy density, are the mostimportant. Additionally, we find that hydrometallurgical recyclingof Li-S batteries could be beneficial for lowering mineral resourceimpacts but not necessarily for lowering other environmental impacts. Life cycle assessment of lithium-sulfurbatteries indicatesa similar environmental impact but a potentially lower mineral resourceimpact compared to lithium-ion batteries.