MELBOURNE, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- Demand-side strategies, including reducing battery sizes, extending battery lifetimes and promoting shared mobility, could cut global lithium-ion battery supply-chain emissions by around half by 2050, an Australian-led study finds.
The study found that demand for lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles and battery energy storage systems could increase twentyfold by 2050, driving a tenfold rise in related supply-chain greenhouse gas emissions, according to a statement released Saturday by Australia's University of Melbourne.
The study was one of the first detailed global assessments to examine both supply-side and demand-side factors, researchers said, adding that supply-side strategies reduce emissions from battery production through cleaner electricity, greener factories, switching battery chemistries and recycling.
While cleaner production remains essential, the findings suggest that reducing battery demand could offer a substantial additional opportunity to curb emissions, said University of Melbourne Associate Professor Li Wen, lead contact of the study published in One Earth.
Researchers from Australia, China and Britain estimated that without additional measures, the global battery supply chain could generate 19 billion to 23 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions through 2050.
Combining ambitious supply- and demand-side strategies could reduce the total to 9 billion to 12 billion tonnes, with demand-side measures accounting for 6 billion to 7 billion tonnes of the reduction, Li said.
The study assessed battery material and component production, manufacturing and end-of-life treatment from 2024 to 2050, with the researchers saying battery decarbonization policies should move beyond regulating production emissions to consider how much battery capacity is needed to provide transport and energy storage services. ■
