Influence of functional unit on the life cycle assessment of traction batteries

Matheys, Julien; Autenboer, Wout Van; Timmermans, Jean-Marc; Mierlo, Joeri Van; Bossche, Peter Van den; Maggetto, Gaston

doi:10.1065/lca2007.04.322

Cited by 47 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…However, in stationary applications, the FU generally used is kg CO 2 e. emitted per battery weight (kg), per battery capacity (Ah) or per energy (kWh) exchanged with the grid (Matheys et al 2007). In this study, kg CO 2 e. emitted per functional kWh will be used given that it has no sense to use km, battery weight or battery capacity for second life applications.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In these cases, the study will compare the impact reduction of substituting these batteries by re-used Li-ion batteries as it is shown in Figure 1. Using the LCA2GO software, and comparing with the literature (Matheys et al 2007), it is assumed that the GHG emitted by the fabrication of a Lead-acid battery are 60% of those emitted by the fabrication of a Li-ion battery with an equivalent capacity. However, their lifetime is reduced by 2.5 times (Teodorescu et al 2013).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Second life of electric vehicle batteries: relation between materials degradation and environmental impact

Casals

García

Aguesse

et al. 2015

Int J Life Cycle Assess

124

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Nowadays, the electric vehicle is one of the most promising alternatives for sustainable transportation. However, the battery, which is one of the most important components, is the main contributor to environmental impact and faces recycling issues. In order to reduce the carbon footprint and to minimize the overall recycling processes, this paper introduces the concept of re-use of electric vehicle batteries, analyzing some possible second-life applications.\ud Methods\ud First, the boundaries of the life cycle assessment of an electric vehicle are defined, considering the use of the battery in a second-life application. To perform the study, we present eight different scenarios for the second-life application. For each case, the energy, the efficiency, and the lifetime of the battery are calculated. Additionally, and based on the global warming potential, the environmental impact of the electric vehicle and its battery on a second-life application is determined for each scenario. Finally, an environmentally focused discussion on battery electrodes and research trends is presented.\ud Results and discussion\ud For the selected scenarios, the second life of the battery varies from 8 to 20 years depending on the application and the requirements. It has been observed that the batteries connected to the electricity grid for energy arbitrage storage have the highest impact per provided kilowatt hour. On the contrary, the environmental benefit comes from applications working with renewable energy sources and presenting a longer lifetime. We pointed out that a correlation between cycling conditions and degradation mechanisms of the electrode materials is compulsory for proper use of the electric vehicle battery in a second-life application.\ud Conclusions\ud To limit the environmental impact, batteries should be associated with renewable energy sources in stationary applications. However, it is more profitable to re-use Li-ion batteries than to use new lead-acid batteries. Although many batteries applied for electric vehicles use graphite-based anodes, the latter may not be the most suitable for the second-life application. A better understanding of Li-ion battery degradation during the second-life application is required for the different existing chemistries.Postprint (author's final draft

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Second life of electric vehicle batteries: relation between materials degradation and environmental impact

Casals

García

Aguesse

et al. 2015

Int J Life Cycle Assess

124

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Depending on how the functional unit is defined, varying environmental impact results could be observed (e.g. Matheys et al 2007), and comparisons could come out differently. In comparing electronic media against traditional printed media, the assumed usage scenario played a vital role in determining the environmental impact -one type of media performed better than the other in one scenario but worse in another scenario.…”

Section: Altered User Behaviour -Consumer Vs Manufacturermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, in this comparison there is a shift in the central technology applied in the product, and research has shown that different technologies may offer different levels and types of functionality and technology capacity (Kim and Kara 2012). A case study of battery technology for electric vehicle application also demonstrated variance in environmental impact results when a different functional unit was chosen and this may be a source of uncertainty in some cases (Matheys et al 2007). As a rebound effect, technological development may thus influence the expectations and behaviour of consumers in the direction of demanding a higher level of performance or functionality -a change that may negatively offset any environmental improvements made in the new product (Sorell, 2009) so that the increased market volume and the associated consumption increase more than neutralises the efficiency gains, leading to the overall increase in environmental impact mentioned previously.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional unit and product functionality—addressing increase in consumption and demand for functionality in sustainability assessment with LCA

Kim

Kara

Hauschild

2016

Int J Life Cycle Assess

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“…The study includes emissions related to the building of the infrastructure, the fuel supply chain and the conversion emissions in the electricity plant. Some case studies have shown that allocation rules can have an influence on the calculated impact of bioenergy on the environment [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. According to Cherubini et al [29] allocation is important in the bio-energy context because bioenergy systems are often part of multifunctional processes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Influence of Allocation on the Carbon Footprint of Electricity Production from Waste Gas, a Case Study for Blast Furnace Gas

Messagie

Boureima

Mertens³

et al. 2013

Energies

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Producing electricity from waste gas is an after treatment for waste gas while recovering the energy content. This paper addresses the methodology to calculate the effect that waste gas energy recovery has on lowering the impact of climate change. Greenhouse gases are emitted while burning the waste gas. However, a thorough study should include the production of the feedstock as well as the production of the infrastructure. A framework is developed to calculate the environmental impact of electricity production from waste gas with a life cycle approach. The present paper has a twofold purpose: to assess the climate change impact of generating electricity with blast furnace gas (BFG) as a waste gas from the steel industry; and to establish a sensitivity assessment of the environmental implications of different allocation rules.

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Influence of functional unit on the life cycle assessment of traction batteries

Cited by 47 publications

References 8 publications

Second life of electric vehicle batteries: relation between materials degradation and environmental impact

Second life of electric vehicle batteries: relation between materials degradation and environmental impact

Functional unit and product functionality—addressing increase in consumption and demand for functionality in sustainability assessment with LCA

The Influence of Allocation on the Carbon Footprint of Electricity Production from Waste Gas, a Case Study for Blast Furnace Gas

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