Following the 2015 Paris Agreement during which countries pledged to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees, one of the main challenges stands in the energetic transition. Whether it is linked to the way we heat our buildings or produce energy to create light, power or to feed our cars, boats, and planes, we need to move away from petrol, coal, or nuclear energy to shift to more renewable methods. However, this is a massive challenge considering our number on this planet and our current needs. For instance, looking only at the car industry, 100 million electric vehicles should be added to our roads globally by 2030 to meet the Paris Agreement deal objectives. Similarly, the airline and marine industries rely on electricity to shift their current practice toward more sustainable behaviors. All our electronic devices, from cars to iPhones need energy to work. And the problem stands in the storage of this energy, mostly done through electric lithium-ion batteries. As a result, the battery market is anticipated to be worth $100 billion by 2025. Additionally, by 2040, batteries storing solar power for firms and households will account for 57% of the world's energy storage capacity.
On one hand, these new power modes could be seen as greener technologies, as no fuel or coal is being burned, hence not participating in air pollution through the release of greenhouse gases. However, renewable sources of energy for electricity are, up-to-date, not a perfect equivalent to nuclear energy in terms of storage and production. Solar panels only work half of the time, wind and tidal plants work more or less depending on the weather. So it is hard to supply 7 billion people only from them, which represents one of the biggest challenges of tomorrow. In any case, electricity has to be stored before being used, in the batteries above-mentioned. But what are they made from?
A lithium battery is formed of four key components. The cathode determines the capacity and voltage of the battery and the source of the lithium ions, the anode enables the electric current to flow through an external circuit, and where lithium ions are stored. Finally, it is made from electrolytes, helping the movement of ions, and the "separator", the barrier between cathode and anode. However, to manufacture Li-ion batteries, some critical raw materials are used, including lithium, graphite, cobalt, and manganese. Lithium is very unpopular for the mining industry needed for its manufacturing and production. Indeed, producing this core element to the energy transition process raises both environmental and societal issues.
To illustrate the environmental impact, let's take the car example. Producing an electric vehicle contributes twice as much to global warming potential and uses double the amount of energy than producing a combustion engine car. Why? Because of its battery production, from the extraction of raw materials to the electricity consumed in manufacture. However, the pollution generated by battery production goes beyond carbon emission alone. Cobalt and copper extraction, through the mining industry, is responsible for massive environmental pollution. Dust, fumes, wastewater, water shortages, toxic spills, air pollution... In some cases, the water even became unfit for human consumption by local communities. All these secondary environmental impacts of mining, necessary to extract minerals to create batteries for our iPhones and cars, are severely altering ecosystems and threatening human lives.
The human cost of this energetic transition must not be neglected. The elements mentioned above are, assuredly, hurting local communities, but several studies have shown that the battery industry is creating massive social challenges. Indeed, plenty of human rights abuses case, such as hazardous working conditions, child labor, poverty, or exposure to pollution have been reported. A research paper focusing on seven Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) cobalt and copper mining operations found that these companies are responsible for damaging the environment, destroying livelihoods, and exposing communities to security risks and violent conflict. This research paper also highlights RDC's government's failure to ensure that human rights are respected. Indeed the proximity of mining operations to villages and towns led thousands of people to be exposed to fumes, containing cobalt compounds, dust and wastewater generated by the mining activities. This heavy air, water and soil pollution are not without mentioning the thousands of trucks travelling from and to the mines, contributing as well to the air pollution. Exposure to such dust can lead to fatal hard-metal lung disease. It can also lead to a variety of other pulmonary problems, including asthma, decreased lung function, and pneumonia. Indeed, the report highlighted that "people living close to DRC’s mines had 43 times the level of cobalt, five times the level of lead, and four times the level of cadmium and uranium in their urine than is considered normal." With the demand increasing, the mining company needs to continuously develop its mining network to be able to meet the demand with its offer. Making way for these new mining sites forces the relocation of local communities leaving on mining sites.
Decarbonizing our current economy will thus represent a dreadful challenge, especially knowing how much humanity is planning to rely on electricity in the future. Finding a way to produce not only clean energy but also clean ways to stock it and use it is one of the toughest issues to solve in the upcoming years. Some solutions already exist. One of them is to reuse batteries across industries but it is costly and it lacks information about the residual value of batteries and the legal framework regarding the battery liability when it changes owner. Another solution would be to recycle the batteries or at least some of their components. The World Economic Forum stated in 2017 that " an estimated 11 million tons of spent lithium-ion batteries will flood our markets by 2025, without systems in place to handle them", which is a massive challenge if we want to avoid pollution from poorly managing this toxic waste. Currently, recycling batteries cost 1€ per kilogram. However, recycling lithium components costs 5 times as much as extracting them, which explains why only 5% of lithium-ion batteries are recycled to date in Europe. This recycling solution could be a working alternative, with minerals becoming scarcer and their price constantly increasing. However, as for everything, it is not perfect.
Overall, the energetic transition from coal, petrol, and fuel raises several environmental and societal challenges for our transportation, heating, lighting, or communication systems. Electricity was once presented as the ultimate solution, either from renewable or nuclear sources (which one is better is another discussion for another day), but numerous issues darken the horizon. The current climate revolution should not be carried out at the expense of the environment, or of people who can least afford it. Therefore, the battery challenge has yet to be tackled...
Iris Beraud
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