The long road to sustainable lithium-ion batteries
Lithium-ion batteries could save the planet from petrol-driven cars, but do the batteries themselves live up to their sustainable reputation? Katharine Sanderson investigates efforts to make batteries better
By 2050 up to 1 billion vehicles on the roads will be powered by electricity, around 72 times more than in 2020. The electrified fleet could see an end to gas-guzzlers, smoggy cities and the stench of petrol fumes. These vehicles will be powered by lithium-ion rechargeable batteries.
But lithium-ion batteries have their own sustainability problems. As the demand for electric vehicles balloons in the coming years, a secondary environmental disaster could be on the cards unless the batteries used in those vehicles can be made in a more sustainable way, with consideration given to their full life cycle.