Study reveals policy insights to revive EV battery production

With the federal government encouraging the expansion of domestic electric-vehicle battery manufacturing, a new Cornell University study examines the long-term energy and sustainability prospects of US production, highlighting policy approaches to building a more resilient battery supply chain. puts.

EV batteries are mostly manufactured overseas, and many policy makers want to produce more in the US to reduce dependence on foreign imports and unpredictable global supply chains – a practice known as reshoring. But the revival will also have an impact on the country’s renewable energy transition and climate goals.

A study published on June 14 science advance Provides one of the most comprehensive energy and environmental analyzes of repackaging lithium-ion EV batteries, considering the entire life cycle including raw material acquisition, component production, manufacturing, distribution and transportation.

The study found that reshoring could reduce the overall carbon footprint of US EV batteries and the energy needed to produce them, but that the benefits could change dramatically depending on factors such as advances in technology, supply chain restructuring and electric vehicle adoption. Can

“For example, the use of recycled aluminum and nickel could reduce the carbon footprint for the pre-pandemic US electric vehicle fleet by 26%,” study co-lead authors Fengqi Yu, Roxanne E. And said Michael Zak Prof. Energy Systems Engineering and a Senior Faculty Fellow in the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability. “This study highlights the importance of data science and sustainability analysis in informing future policy on energy, climate, manufacturing and the environment.”

The study also examined the energy and sustainability potential of the ally-shoring strategy, in which production capacities for refined metals and battery components are reallocated to Japan, South Korean and EU countries.

Findings of the study include:

• Increasing the shares of onshoring and allied production in the future US EV battery supply chain could reduce the carbon footprint by up to 27% compared to the current supply chain configuration.
• Increasing the shares of renewable energy in the power grid and reducing dependence on hard coal and lignite-fired electricity will enhance the environmental sustainability of EV batteries.
• Strategic integration of battery technology advancement and supply chain restructuring could result in a 54% improvement in climate change mitigation benefits.
• While reshoring can reduce ecotoxicity and fine particulate matter formation by more than 30% from secondary nickel supplies, environmental performance in ozone formation, ozone depletion and ionizing radiation is decreased due to increased overseas transport distance for the material.

“The type of advanced modeling and systems analysis offered by this study allows us to consider the environmental tradeoffs in how lithium-ion batteries are made,” said co-author Apoorva Lal, a graduate student in You’s Process-Energy-Environmental Systems Engineering. Is necessary.” Lab, “and to achieve a resilient midstream and downstream value chain for the US amid uncertain markets and evolving battery technologies.”