Raw materials in the field of electrochemical energy storage – A risk analysis

Abstract

Abstract.Over the last few years, companies and public authorities have become increasingly concerned about the security of the supply of mineral resources. Numerous elements are needed for all kinds of production in building, manufacturing and even the service sector. This is especially relevant for Germany because all metals and other high-tech resources important for modern manufacturing have to be imported. Secondary resources are the only option for Germany to satisfy some of the current demand with domestic resources. Resource-consuming industries face significant competition and a number of risks regarding security of supply. The industry considers the most relevant risks to be the increase and volatility of prices. Short-term reduction of supply is also among the most important risks. Numerous factors add up to the total risk of supply for every specific natural resource. The Resource Risk Index (RRI), developed by the Cologne Institute for Economic Research, is constructed to give guidance regarding the level of risks. With this indicator, we group 45 elements and define three classes of criticality: critical (red), less critical (orange) and not critical (yellow). Lithium-based batteries are current technologies for electricity storage, especially for mobile appliances like smartphones, mobile computers and electric vehicles. However, alternative storage concepts and new developments can be based on other natural resources. Therefore, other elements should be considered and their supply risks taken into account. This paper covers the main results (Resource Risk Index) of magnesium, cobalt, lithium, iron, lead, tantalum, nickel, manganese and aluminum.

The Aluminum-Ion Battery: A Sustainable and Seminal Concept?

“…The first step in assessing and selecting the elements of the periodic system up to the number 94, is to ensure their suitability for sustainable and seminal battery chemistries. There are different ways of rating a material of which the “Criticality Assessments” by the EU 10 or the “Resource Risk Index” RRI (Bardt, 2016, 2017) are two possibilities. The EU rates, among other, magnesium, phosphorous, tungsten, and cobalt as critical.…”

“…Numerous elements are needed for all kinds of utilization in building, manufacturing, and even the service sector, which may be in competition with the battery sector. Thus, resource-consuming industries face a number of risks regarding security of supply: the increase and volatility of prices are considered the most relevant risks (Bardt, 2016). The latter becomes increasingly important in particular, as cell costs decrease toward 100 USD/kWh (Olivetti et al, 2017 9 ).…”

Aluminum: The future of Battery Technology

“…According to a paper written by Hubertus Bardt, aluminum is not classified as critical when considering the reserves-to-production ratio, political implications, and supply risks 11 . One reason for this is the various sources of aluminum.…”