Aug 07, 2019 Pageview:939
With the increasing use of the automotive industry, the need to improve the recycling of lithium-ion batteries has become more and more important.
With their extensive use in various devices and the increasing use of the automotive industry, the need to improve the recycling of lithium-ion batteries has become increasingly important.
As recently as 2014, there are only three planned "battery giant batteries" with an annual battery capacity of more than 1GWh. These factories have been planned on a global scale: Tesla's Giga-factory in the United States, LGChem's plant in Nanjing, China, and Foxconn's plant in Anhui, China-the last time it was never built. According to Bench mark Miner alIntagence, 26 battery plants are currently producing or expanding capacity. He explained that the total capacity of these plants was 344.5 GWh. It expects global supply in 2017 to be approximately 100 GWh.
Although a large number of new batteries are expected to be produced in the near future and will not reach scrap time for many years to come, a large and growing number of batteries are already doing so. According to a recent analysis by CreationInn, a professional consulting company in energy storage and recycling economics, the total amount of recycled lithium may reach 580 to 30,000 tons of lithium carbonate equivalent(LCE) by 2025. Cobalt is expected to reach 22,500 tons. However, the amount of material available for recycling is limited by the poor collection system for portable batteries and the good prospects for reuse as a useful scale store for automotive batteries.
His report found that the prerequisite for the global cycle model is that the battery is used from the first use to the second use, and eventually recycled in a closed-loop solution, bringing old materials into the new battery.
From a raw material point of view, renewable battery minerals such as lithium batteries, cobalt batteries, nickel batteries and manganese batteries can already be found in new batteries today. However, according to HansEricMelin, a consultant at CreationInn, the study's author is a study of recycling opportunities in the lithium ion industry, and there is very little correlation with the rapidly growing demand for materials-especially lithium. Investment in additional regenerative capacity and the implementation of new technologies, as well as rising prices of lithium and cobalt, provided important impetus for change.
He predicted that by 2025, the amount of cobalt in recycled batteries would reach nearly 20. It is expected that most of these materials will be recycled and reassembled into new cathode materials that can be used in Chinese cathode manufacturer processes.
China Responsible
More than 66M lithium-ion batteries, or 191,000 tons, are reportedly expected to be recycled in China, feeding the country's fast-growing battery material industry. If waste production or other sources are not considered, the proportion of important cobalt batteries will be as high as 76.
Melin worked in the battery recycling industry for eight years and in energy and environment-related industries for more than 15 years. He said that when production in Europe and North America finally increased, The recycling industry in China will prove to have a strong competitive advantage in technology and available capacity.
"The limited recycling of lithium ion batteries in Europe and North America has nothing to do with the lack of technology, but is the result of a policy framework that does not recognize the reuse value of the batteries that are currently driving them overseas. From a cyclical point of view, it actually works very well, but it does not provide much support for the government's ambition to obtain key raw materials in the European Union, the United States, and Canada, "Melin said.
Second Life
There is a major factor that may delay and limit the number of automotive lithium-ion batteries used for material recovery, so they may be reused. According to Melin, there is an excellent opportunity to capture most of the energy storage market by reclaiming electric car batteries and using them for utility scale storage solutions.
He said the model is well connected to similar solutions for vehicles that are used for grid-to-grid batteries. The model also offers strong growth opportunities and compensates for lost revenue when sales of spare parts and services fall owing to limited demand for the maintenance of new electric vehicles. CreationInn's analysis predicts that at least 60 tons of electric car batteries will be used for second-use solutions before sending them for recycling.
Global Alliance
Closing the cycle of lithium-ion batteries is not only an environmental issue, it is also a moral issue. Many of the materials contained in these batteries are mined under dangerous and dirty conditions-usually by children.
Significant human and environmental costs: A report by Amnesty International highlighted the widespread use of child labor in cobalt mining. Materials such as lithium, nickel, manganese and graphite are also associated with pollution, water scarcity and other environmental and social problems.
In response, last year's World Economic Forum Sustainable Development Impact Summit launched the Global Battery Alliance. It aims to create a responsible value chain for the fast-growing battery market, from the mining and chemical industries to manufacturers, electronics, automobiles and energy companies.
Major technology, mining, manufacturing, automotive and energy operations are working with the United Nations Children's Fund, the African Development Bank, other international organizations and non-governmental organizations to create a responsible global battery-supply market in a market that will reach $100 billion by 2025.
The Alliance aims to protect workers, prohibit child labor, eliminate pollution, promote reuse and recycling, and develop innovative green energy storage. The group said it needed a 12-fold increase in battery capacity to meet consumer demand and the promise of a low-carbon economy. By 2025, the market may reach 100 billion U.S. dollars. By 2040, batteries installed in households and companies will account for 57 % of the world's energy storage capacity.
Not so smart.
According to Dominic Waughray, head of public-private partnerships at the World Economic Forum, there have been heavy casualties and huge waste of valuable raw materials.
“The phone may be smart, but the system is definitely not sustainable. All the e-waste we discarded in 2014 was worth $52 billion,” he said. “It contains 300 tons of gold and a lot of silver and palladium. In order to get these rare minerals and metals, so that all our phones, cars and toothbrush batteries can work skillfully, many poor people pay the same price as the environment. We average only It takes only 26 months to use your smart phone or tablet, then throw it away and throw away the battery and all the devices."
Benedikt Sobotka, CEO of Eurasian Resources Group, a major natural resource producer of cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, added: “Unfortunately, your smart phone or electric car has almost 100% chance of containing child labor from artisanal mining. While creating new ethical energy will help, we all need to do everything we can to stop child labor."
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