Batteries –The Dirty Secret Fuelling the Green Revolution

By Megan Stidolph

As the decarbonisation of the global economy is necessary to meet the targets set by the 2015 Paris Agreement, battery technologies are an essential part of the Green Revolution. According to BloombergNEF, global energy demand is set to increase by 1.5% annually. Analysts hope that the majority of this growth will be powered by the increasing number of affordable renewable technologies like solar power and wind energy. Large scale battery technology is therefore essential to store this energy and synchronise supply with demand, increasing the viability of a global switch to renewable energy. Battery innovation, however, is not just about energy storage, but is also an important factor in the development of electric vehicles, which is crucial for decarbonising the transport sector.

Picture: (Battery powered car from link below)

The Battery Basics:

Norway has already successfully incentivised the purchasing of electric vehicles (EVs). By 2017, electric and hybrid vehicles constituted over half of the cars sold in Norway. This is thanks to policies making them a cheaper alternative to diesel or petrol cars. Toll-free travel in and out of the capital Oslo, free charging at any of the 2,000 + charging bays in the city, permission to use bus lanes and tax deductions mean that EVs are more convenient and affordable than conventional alternatives. This is a part of the government goal to end the purchase of diesel or petrol cars by 2025. With the UK promising that no new diesel or petrol cars will be sold in the country after 2035, EVs will soon become the only mode of transport. In the US, General Motors’ Superbowl advert aims to encourage EV uptake in the USA by humorously challenging Norway. The company plans on phasing out petrol and diesel cars by 2035, to become EV only.

These ‘green’ low carbon policies are dependent on battery technologies. EVs are a vital part of the global climate mitigation plan, with experts claiming that a 50x increase in EVs is needed to achieve the target of a 1.5 °C temperature increase by the end of the century.

The Trend:

The battery industry is expected to be worth $100 billion by 2025. In an interview with the BBC, Professor Paul Shearing claims that battery technologies are now entering an “exponential growth phase”. The Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2019 was awarded to three scientists for their work on lithium ion batteries. Battery prices have decreased by 84% since 2010 and are forecast to fall an additional 64% from today to 2030, according to a BloombergNEF report. However, the pace of innovation in the industry means that many new battery technologies risk becoming ‘stranded assets’ – obsolete before evening hitting the market.

Precious metals are essential for the development of batteries including lithium and cobalt. Lithium has been dubbed the ‘new gasoline’ amongst investors – minus the carbon emissions. In fact, it is already in demand, used in everything from glass, ceramics and medicines, to electronics such as phone and computer batteries. But demand is set to sky-rocket, increasing around 20% annually, courtesy of the increasing need for car batteries. The largest global lithium reserves are found in the unspoilt Bolivian Andes’ Salar de Uyuni salt plains, where 50-70% of the known global supply is thought to reside.

Caption: The Pristine Environment of the Bolivian Andes - Salar de Uyuni.

The Downsides:

The most prominent concerns about battery technologies are related to the environmental degradation involved in the process of mining and extracting lithium and cobalt, and the accompanying human rights abuses. From chemical spills in Tibet to water intensive mining processes in Chile and concerns about deep sea mining (as mining is synonymous with environmental damage). Cobalt mining is also consistently linked with child labour abuses.

Additionally, there are concerns about the safety and efficacy of battery waste and recycling, as battery fires are increasingly becoming a hazard. If batteries are going to succeed, we urgently need to develop parallel battery recycling systems to reduce the costs of battery disposal. New research from the University of Birmingham hopes to find new methods of recycling batteries effectively, by trying to recover the minerals from end of life batteries.

These new technologies have the chance to reconfigure the geopolitical map, and finally reduce the influence of Oil Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) nations. The geopolitical future of Africa is also changing. The global economy requires a steady supply of precious metals like lithium and cobalt, which African nations like the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have in abundance. The DRC is home to an estimated $24 trillion worth of precious metals and minerals. If governed fairly and equitably, the nation could use these vast reserves as a means to develop and overcome political instability. Yet right now the industry is littered with human rights abuses and corruption.

So are EVs better for the environment?

Well, it’s complicated. According to one research report by a German think tank, EVs will not play a significant part in the reduction of greenhouse gases in the country. Some claim that the extractive process involved in producing lithium ion batteries renders the process of producing and using an EV more harmful than a conventional car. This is hotly disputed. Factors such as the carbon intensity of the electricity production in a country and vehicle usage mean that the environmental credentials of EVs vary. Renewable energy obviously makes EVs more environmentally friendly. The general consensus is that EVs are beneficial to the environment.

The alternatives to EV’s are limited. Hydrogen fuel cells have been dismissed by Elon Musk as being ‘a load of rubbish’. While they are more efficient than a traditional internal combustion engine, they are less efficient than an electric battery in an EV. Hydrogen fuel cells only emit water vapour. However, hydrogen is still predominantly sourced by the natural gas extraction. In the future, this process could be made more environmentally friendly by hydrogen production through solar and wind energy. Hydrogen fuel cells have significant potential but right now, electric batteries are the most viable alternative to petrol powered vehicles. Presently, it is far easier to operationalise systems to support EVs than hydrogen powered cars.

The future of the global economy and climate change depends on the innovation of battery technologies to ensure the viability of ‘green tech’. For groups like the Global Battery Alliance, the decarbonisation of the economy should not come at the expense of environmental degradation or human rights.

Photographs:

First picture - BBC Article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48340202?ocid=socialflow_twitter

Second Picture: Salar de Uyumi – from the BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-34731813