We can make better batteries according to a European Union Report. Its September 2018 FUTURE BRIEF ‘Towards the Battery of the Future’ is on point. It says we need to manage how we make, use and dispose of used lithium batteries better. The Union’s goal is high-performing batteries with minimal environmental impact.
How the EU thinks We Can Make Better Batteries
Lithium batteries have a pivotal role in the ‘environmental puzzle’. However, the European Union is convinced we can make better batteries in terms of greenhouse gas emissions during manufacture.
Moreover, it also believes we should look for smarter ways to work around their toxic chemicals and flammable nature. “Because there are many means of addressing these material issues in future lithium battery designs,” it says. “For instance, increasing the energy density of batteries…not only offers important benefits for battery performance. It also reduces pressure on resources.”
The Worst Problems Are in Manufacturing and Refining
The European Union Report is harshly critical of the damage mining causes to the environment. Because this leaves unsightly tailings, and waste from toxic substances cobalt and nickel leave behind. Moreover, these are embedded in rocks and emit sulfur oxide during the extraction process.
We can make better batteries simply by using more recycled materials, and making them denser so they use less metal, the union says. However the greatest saving of greenhouse gases during manufacture would be using 100% renewable energy sources. Finally, we should second-purpose electric car lithium batteries before harvesting their materials for reuse.
On the design front, the EU report would further like to see solid ceramic or polymer material replace liquid lithium electrolytes. It wants faster progress with rolling out redox flow batteries, and a detailed environmental impact study of printed batteries.
It says these changes could bring about substantial environmental benefits. This could be without denying batteries’ pivotal role in global sustainability.
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Preview Image: Batteries At the Heart of The Future
