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Lithium-ion batteries: Difference between revisions
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{{considerations}} | {{considerations}} | ||
==Cobalt== | ==Cobalt and other minerals== | ||
{{sum|Major problem|bad}} | {{sum|Major problem|bad}} | ||
If all the world's vehicles were lithium-ion electric, how many minerals would be needed: | |||
{{dp | {{dp | ||
|ev.battery | |ev.battery | ||
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|<nowiki>https://batteryguy.com/kb/knowledge-base/how-to-calculate-the-lithium-content-in-a-battery/</nowiki><br /><nowiki> | |<nowiki>https://batteryguy.com/kb/knowledge-base/how-to-calculate-the-lithium-content-in-a-battery/</nowiki><br /><nowiki> | ||
The article says lithium per amp hour. We convert this to lithium per watt hour (energy), by including the cell voltage.</nowiki> | The article says lithium per amp hour. We convert this to lithium per watt hour (energy), by including the cell voltage.</nowiki> | ||
}} | }} | ||
{{dp | {{dp | ||
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|<nowiki>https://www.statista.com/statistics/264930/global-cobalt-reserves/</nowiki> | |<nowiki>https://www.statista.com/statistics/264930/global-cobalt-reserves/</nowiki> | ||
}} | }} | ||
{{dp | |||
|<nowiki>nickel.reserves</nowiki> | |||
|<nowiki>94 million tons</nowiki> | |||
|<nowiki>Global reserves of nickel metal</nowiki> | |||
|<nowiki>Source: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2021</nowiki> | |||
}} | |||
{{dp | |||
|<nowiki>lithium.reserves</nowiki> | |||
|<nowiki>18425000 tonnes</nowiki> | |||
|<nowiki>Lithium metal: Total global mineral reserves</nowiki> | |||
|<nowiki>https://www.statista.com/statistics/268790/countries-with-the-largest-lithium-reserves-worldwide/</nowiki><br /><nowiki> | |||
Added up all the countries: 9,200,000 + 4,700,000 + 1,900,000 + 1,500,000 + 750,000 + 220,000 + 95,000 + 60,000 = 18,425,000 metric tons</nowiki> | |||
}} | |||
<tab name="(average-case estimate)"> | |||
According to a meta-analysis: "In 2020, an average lithium-ion battery contained around '''28.9''' kilograms of nickel, '''7.7''' kilogram of cobalt, and '''5.9''' kilogram of lithium. [...] Based on the average battery composition in 2020 with 60 kWh capacity." | |||
<ref>Oct 9, 2023, [https://www.statista.com/statistics/1247675/weight-of-metal-in-lithium-ion-batteries/ Weight of metal in lithium-ion batteries 2020 - Statista]</ref> Also note that 60 kWh is considered pretty "average" for the battery capacity of an [[electric car]]. <ref>https://ev-database.org/cheatsheet/useable-battery-capacity-electric-car</ref> | |||
So, knowing this, we can do a quick estimate: | |||
<!-- TALK: maybe better define "reserves"? And maybe refactor all the "ref"s into "dp"s? --> | |||
{{calc | |||
|28.9 kg * world.cars * commercial_factor | |||
|% nickel.reserves | |||
}} | |||
{{calc | {{calc | ||
| | |7.7 kg * world.cars * commercial_factor | ||
|% cobalt.reserves | |% cobalt.reserves | ||
}} | }} | ||
{{calc | {{calc | ||
| | |5.9 kg * world.cars * commercial_factor | ||
|% lithium.reserves | |% lithium.reserves | ||
}} | }} | ||
</tab> | |||
'''Cobalt is the biggest issue''', as we'd need to somehow mine '''3 times''' more cobalt than Earth's mineral reserves. Such a scenario would motivate companies to strip-mine the ocean floor in desperate attempt to obtain enough cobalt - which would be disastrous for wildlife. Also note that cobalt is notorious for being mined by child labor. {{npn}} | |||
Lithium and nickel are also cutting it close, nearly exhausting their global mineral reserves as well. {{pn|TODO: How would that compare to the envionmental impact of oil mining (status quo)? {{rn}} }} | |||
Best case, these minerals would only be mined once, assuming the EV batteries get recycled properly at their end of life. If not, the situation would get even worse with time, with even more mining needed than what was calculated above. | |||
Note that the exact proportion of cobalt & nickel can vary by battery design, but there are always tradeoffs in the engineering. Cobalt is needed for stability (i.e. to prevent batteries from catching fire when minorly damaged). | |||
As great as lithium-ion is for small electronic devices, it's simply not scalable enough for large-scale [[energy storage]], because of the minerals. If we want all vehicles to be electric, we'll need some other battery type such as [[sodium-ion]]. | |||
==Energy in manufacturing== | ==Energy in manufacturing== | ||
{{sum|Not ''too'' bad}} | {{sum|Not ''too'' bad}} | ||
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<small>Similar calculations could be done for non-vehicle energy storage.</small><!-- TODO: add them --> | <small>Similar calculations could be done for non-vehicle energy storage.</small><!-- TODO: add them --> | ||
==Recyclability== | ==Recyclability== | ||
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==See also== | ==See also== | ||
* [[Sodium-ion batteries]] - possibly a more scalable [[energy storage]] solution, but it isn't on the market yet.<!-- NOTE: update this if anything changes! --> | * [[Sodium-ion batteries]] - possibly a more scalable [[energy storage]] solution, but it isn't on the market yet.<!-- NOTE: update this if anything changes! --> | ||
==References== | |||
<references /> | |||