Perspectives on Cobalt Supply through 2030 in the Face of Changing Demand

Fu, Xinkai; Beatty, Danielle N.; Gaustad, Gabrielle; Ceder, Gerbrand; Roth, Richard; Kirchain, Randolph; Bustamante, Michele L.; Babbitt, Callie W.; Olivetti, Elsa

doi:10.1021/acs.est.9b04975

Cited by 126 publications

(91 citation statements)

References 40 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…With growing concerns about the availability of natural sources of lithium, cobalt, and nickel, 20,21 it may be difficult for Li-ion to scale to multiple TWh/production per year. These limitations are strong motivators in the search for alternative chemistries for the next-generation mid-/large-scale batteries.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Promises and Challenges of Next-Generation “Beyond Li-ion” Batteries for Electric Vehicles and Grid Decarbonization

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The tremendous improvement in performance and cost of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have made them the technology of choice for electrical energy storage. While established battery chemistries and cell architectures for Li-ion batteries achieve good power and energy density, LIBs are unlikely to meet all the performance, cost, and scaling targets required for energy storage, in particular, in large-scale applications such as electrified transportation and grids. The demand to further reduce cost and/or increase energy density, as well as the growing concern related to natural resource needs for Li-ion have accelerated the investigation of so-called "beyond Li-ion" technologies. In this review, we will discuss the recent achievements, challenges, and opportunities of four important "beyond Li-ion" technologies: Na-ion batteries, K-ion batteries, all-solid-state batteries, and multivalent batteries. The fundamental science behind the challenges, and potential solutions toward the goals of a low-cost and/or high-energy-density future, are discussed in detail for each technology. While it is unlikely that any given new technology will fully replace Li-ion in the near future, "beyond Li-ion" technologies should be thought of as opportunities for energy storage to grow into mid/large-scale applications.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Promises and Challenges of Next-Generation “Beyond Li-ion” Batteries for Electric Vehicles and Grid Decarbonization

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Spain and Germany. Future supply projections based on cost of primary extraction and mine capacity estimate the future global annual mine supply capacity to be between 225-235 kt by 202534 , and 190 kt with upper bounds between 23733 and 311 kt35 by 2030. All studies highlight that the dominant role of the DRC in future Co supply is likely to continue within the next decade, accounting for 60-75% of of 5.9kt by 2040 and 17.4kt by 2050, assuming a 96% recovery rate.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Circular economy strategies for electric vehicle batteries reduce reliance on raw materials

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The wide adoption of lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles (EVs) will require increased natural resources for the automotive industry. The expected rapid increase in batteries could result in new resource challenges and supply chain risks. To strengthen the resilience and sustainability of automotive supply chains and reduce primary resource requirements, circular economy strategies are needed. Here we illustrate how these strategies can reduce primary raw material extraction i.e. cobalt supplies. Material flow analysis is applied to understand current and future flows of cobalt embedded in EVs batteries across the European Union. A reference scenario is presented and compared with four strategies: technology driven substitution and technology driven reduction of cobalt, new business models to stimulate battery reuse/recycling and policy driven strategy to increase recycling. We find that new technologies provide the most promising strategies to reduce the reliance on cobalt significantly but could result in burden shifting such as an increase in nickel demand. To avoid the latter, technological developments should therefore be combined with an efficient recycling system. We conclude that more ambitious circular economy strategies, at both government and business levels, are urgently needed to address current and future resource challenges across the supply chain successfully.

show abstract

“…However, previous work indicates this role will likely be limited until 2040 due to vehicle and battery lifetimes 77 . As researchers explore the use of particular materials, screening analyses can enable them to understand how the scaled resource use will impact primary supply based on the fraction of total end-use demand that the new application requires 78 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Manufacturing scalability implications of materials choice in inorganic solid-state batteries

Huang

Ceder

Olivetti

2021

Joule

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The pursuit of scalable and manufacturable all-solid-state batteries continues to intensify, motivated by the rapidly increasing demand for safe, dense electrical energy storage. In this Perspective, we describe the numerous, often conflicting, implications of materials choices that have been made in the search for effective mitigations to the interfacial instabilities plaguing solid-state batteries. Specifically, we show that the manufacturing scalability of solid-state batteries can be governed by at least three principal consequences of materials selection: (1) the availability, scaling capacity, and price volatility of the chosen materials' constituents, (2) the manufacturing processes needed to integrate the chosen materials into full cells, and (3) the cell performance that may be practically achieved with the chosen materials and processes. While each of these factors is, in isolation, a pivotal determinant of manufacturing scalability, we show that consideration and optimization of their collective effects and tradeoffs is necessary to more completely chart a scalable pathway to manufacturing. Context & Scale With examples pulled from recent developments in solid-state batteries, we illustrate the consequences of materials choice on materials availability, processing requirements and challenges, and resultant device performance. We demonstrate that while each of these factors is, by itself, essential to understanding manufacturing scalability, joint consideration of all three provides for a more comprehensive understanding of the specific factors that could impede the scale up to production. Much of the recent activity in solidstate battery research has been aimed at mitigating the various interfacial instabilities that currently prevent the fabrication of a low cost, high performance device. With such a wide breadth of options, it can be difficult for researchers to identify the most promising or scalable pathways forward. As such, we aim to empower researchers to make more informed decisions by providing them with insights into how their materials choices are likely to impact the manufacturing scalability of different interfacial mitigation alternatives. In doing so, we hope that generalizable lessons about scalability can be extracted and applied to subsequent challenges in solid-state battery development, thereby accelerating their scale up to manufacturing.

show abstract

Perspectives on Cobalt Supply through 2030 in the Face of Changing Demand

Cited by 126 publications

References 40 publications

Promises and Challenges of Next-Generation “Beyond Li-ion” Batteries for Electric Vehicles and Grid Decarbonization

Promises and Challenges of Next-Generation “Beyond Li-ion” Batteries for Electric Vehicles and Grid Decarbonization

Circular economy strategies for electric vehicle batteries reduce reliance on raw materials

Manufacturing scalability implications of materials choice in inorganic solid-state batteries

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About