Metals for low-carbon technologies: Environmental impacts and relation to planetary boundaries

Schenker, Vanessa; Kulionis, Viktoras; Oberschelp, Christopher; Pfister, Stephan

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.133620

Cited by 10 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…Furthermore, environmental impacts on Earth system boundaries restrict the mobilization of materials . A fast increase in production may result in higher environmental impacts, as in the example of Ni (Young, 2021;Schenker et al, 2022a). Biodiversity conservation targets or boundaries for water consumption, for example, may limit the processable material flow .…”

Section: Processability: Mobilizing Flowsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mobilizing materials to enable a fast energy transition: a conceptual framework

Desing¹,

Widmer²,

Bardi³

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Limiting climate heating while meeting basic needs of all necessitates eliminating fossil carbon emissions. This paper discusses the dynamics of mobilizing materials required for large-scale deployment of renewable energy, which entail: 1) availability of resources in the environment and technosphere; 2) accessibility, which depends on resource quality and available technologies; 3) processability, which depends on energy availability, processing capacity, and environmental impacts on planetary boundaries; and 4) operability, which depends on social acceptance and geopolitical agreements. Also, materials can be mobilized through four routes: 1) increasing primary production; 2) diverting existing primary production; 3) repurposing existing in-use stocks; and 4) re-mining previous wastes and emissions. The interplay of these enabling factors determines the maximum possible rate of material mobilization and thus of the energy transition itself. This paper presents and discusses a framework to explore joint energy-material transformations, enabling to consider material aspects in transition modelling and guide technological developments.

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Section: Processability: Mobilizing Flowsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mobilizing materials to enable a fast energy transition: a conceptual framework

Desing¹,

Widmer²,

Bardi³

et al. 2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The current trend tries to include the assessment of the absolute sustainability level of decarbonization pathways for the chemical industry, which has been appointed as a key strategy to guide development as well as policy-making . Several studies that apply the PB framework for decision-making have been published in recent years. − Galán-Martin et al applied PB-LCA to evaluate the transition of the petrochemical industry to renewable carbon-based, highlighting the opportunities to incorporate PBs in the decision-making when assessing large-scale decarbonization routes. D’Angelo et al assessed the absolute sustainability performance of low-carbon ammonia synthesis routes from the PB-LCA perspective.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Relevance of Life Cycle Assessment Tools in the Development of Emerging Decarbonization Technologies

Fernández-González,

Rumayor,

Domínguez-Ramos

et al. 2023

JACS Au

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The development of emerging decarbonization technologies requires advanced tools for decision-making that incorporate the environmental perspective from the early design. Today, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is the preferred tool to promote sustainability in the technology development, identifying environmental challenges and opportunities and defining the final implementation pathways. So far, most environmental studies related to decarbonization emerging solutions are still limited to midpoint metrics, mainly the carbon footprint, with global sustainability implications being relatively unexplored. In this sense, the Planetary Boundaries (PBs) have been recently proposed to identify the distance to the ideal reference state. Hence, PB-LCA methodology can be currently applied to transform the resource use and emissions to changes in the values of PB control variables. This study shows a complete picture of the LCA’s role in developing emerging technologies. For this purpose, a case study based on the electrochemical conversion of CO2 to formic acid is used to show the possibilities of LCA approaches highlighting the potential pitfalls when going beyond greenhouse gas emission reduction and obtaining the absolute sustainability level in terms of four PBs.

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“…Electric vehicles use Li-ion batteries to supply energy to move and they are important to replace internal combustion engine vehicles and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. − The global sales of electric vehicles increased twice from 2020 to 2021, as the battery sales in this market, which is also used in electronic equipment . The demand is supplied by the extraction of natural resources, which culminate in other environmental impacts, such as freshwater use, land system change, social impacts, and pollution in mine location . The increase in demand for Li-ion batteries resulted in a rise in Li and Co prices by 500 and 200%, respectively, in 2021 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…6 The demand is supplied by the extraction of natural resources, which culminate in other environmental impacts, such as freshwater use, land system change, social impacts, and pollution in mine location. 7 The increase in demand for Li-ion batteries resulted in a rise in Li and Co prices by 500 and 200%, respectively, in 2021. 8 It will cause pressure in extractive industries and exploration of metals, causing several negative impacts to the environment and human being.…”

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable Approach for Critical Metals Recovery through Hydrometallurgical Processing of Spent Batteries Using Organic Acids

Martins,

Rovani,

Botelho Junior

et al. 2023

Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.

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Recycling is the bottom line to promote the circularity of the materials into the closed loop. Among the Li-ion batteries, the LiCoO 2 -cathode type is used in a few vehicles but mostly in electric equipment. This study aimed to design a recycling process for LiCoO 2 -pouch batteries. The entire process was designed using organic acids. The cells were milled and physically separated. Leaching experiments were performed with citric acid. No reducing agent was necessary, and all Co and Li were leached using 1 mol/L of citric acid at 90 °C with a solid−liquid ratio of 1/10 for 2 h. Co was separated using oxalic acid at 50 °C for 30 min in a Co/oxalic acid molar ratio of 1:2. Resynthesis of the cathode was possible, producing a similar material directly from the leach solution, which opens possibilities for the future. The present study fits SDGs 7,9,11, 12,and 13.

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Metals for low-carbon technologies: Environmental impacts and relation to planetary boundaries

Cited by 10 publications

References 65 publications

Mobilizing materials to enable a fast energy transition: a conceptual framework

Mobilizing materials to enable a fast energy transition: a conceptual framework

The Relevance of Life Cycle Assessment Tools in the Development of Emerging Decarbonization Technologies

Sustainable Approach for Critical Metals Recovery through Hydrometallurgical Processing of Spent Batteries Using Organic Acids

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