Life-cycle assessment of the environmental impact of the batteries used in pure electric passenger cars

Energy Reports

Yingfu Guo¹  Guanghui Zhu²  Kexiang Wei³  Xiong Shu⁴  Wenxian Yang⁴ 

[1] Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Vehicle Power and Transmission System, Hunan Institute of Engineering, Xiangtan, 411104, China;Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Vehicle Power and Transmission System, Hunan Institute of Engineering, Xiangtan, 411104, China;School of Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK;School of Mechanical Engineering, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Hunan, Xiangtan, 411201, China;

关键词: Lithium-ion power battery;    Life cycle assessment;    Electric vehicle;    Ecosystem;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The use of electric vehicles is for reducing carbon emissions, thereby reducing environmental pollution caused by transportation. However, the large-scale production and application of electric vehicle batteries have brought another notable issue, i.e., the production and application of these batteries also cause environmental pollution. Particularly, the precious metal materials used in the batteries are harmful to human health and the surrounding ecological system. Nowadays, many types of batteries are available. It is essential to understand which of them is most suitable for electric vehicles from the perspective of environmental protection. To answer this question, the life cycle environmental impact assessment of LiFePO 4 battery and Li(NiCoMn)O2 battery, which are being popularly used in pure electric passenger vehicles, are conducted in this paper. The research has shown that the two types of batteries show different environmental impact features in different phases. For example, LiFePO 4 batteries are more environmentally friendly in the phase of production, while Li(NiCoMn)O2 batteries are more eco-friendly in the application and transportation phases. Despite this, LiFePO 4 batteries are generally more environmentally friendly than Li(NiCoMn)O2 batteries from the perspective of the entire life cycle. In addition, the research results also suggest that due to the heavier mass, LiFePO 4 batteries can probably gain more benefit when used for energy storage.

【 授权许可】

Unknown