Effect of recycled content on the environmental footprint of new EV batteries
Francis Hanna1, Luyao Yuan1, Renata Arsenault2
1Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Michigan State University, United States.
Abstract:
Demand for Li-ion batteries (LIB) is expected to reach 9 TWh by 2035. There is growing interest in manufacturing new batteries using domestically recovered materials. However, the environmental impact of recycled content on LIBs is not adequately assessed in the literature. This study uses life cycle assessment to investigate the effects of recycled materials on the carbon footprint, water consumption, water scarcity index, and freshwater toxicity of cathode active materials and LIB cells. Substituting primary materials with recycled materials can reduce the carbon footprint of new NMC811 cathode material by up to 55%, the water consumption by 20%, the water scarcity impact by 20%, and the freshwater toxicity by 61%. However, results can vary based on the recycled materials' recovery method and the mining and refining locations of the primary materials they replace. This work highlights gaps and limitations in current battery regulations and focuses on the importance of strategically using available recycled materials to minimize the LIBs' environmental footprint.
Related Concept Videos
03:12Batteries and Fuel Cells
00:50Unrenewable Cells
Photoreceptors
The retina is composed of several layers and contains specialized cells called photoreceptors. The photoreceptors (rods and cones) change their membrane potential when stimulated by light energy. There are two types of photoreceptors—rods and cones—which differ in the shape of...
01:02Electromotive Force
Any circuit with a constant current must contain an emf-producing source. Examples of emf sources include batteries, electric generators, solar cells, thermocouples, and fuel cells. All these sources transform energy of some kind (mechanical, chemical, thermal, and so on)...
01:25Multiple Voltage Sources
In series, the positive terminal of one battery is connected to the negative terminal of another battery. Hence, the voltage of each battery is added to give the net voltage, which is increased because each battery boosts the electrons that enter it. The same current flows through each battery because they are connected in series.
Batteries are...
00:58Recycling Endosomes and Transcytosis
The recycling endosome is not a single organelle but an extensively tubulated network of recycling pathways. It functions in storing molecules or transporting them across...
02:47Voltaic/Galvanic Cells
Spontaneous redox reactions occur abundantly in nature. The chemical reaction occurring in a disposable AA battery powering our remote controls is one such example of a spontaneous redox reaction. Another example is the immersion of coiled copper wire into an aqueous silver nitrate solution. The reaction shows a gradual, visually impressive color change from colorless to bright blue and the formation of a grey precipitate on the copper wire. In this experiment,...