Extended life cycle assessment reveals the spatially-explicit water scarcity footprint of a lithium-ion battery storage

Anna C Schomberg,Stefan Bringezu,Martina Flörke

doi:10.1038/s43247-020-00080-9

Abstract

The life cycle water scarcity footprint is a tool to evaluate anthropogenic contributions to regional water scarcity along global supply chains. Here, we complement it by a classification of the risk from human water use, a comprehensive conceptualisation of water use and a spatially-explicit impact assessment to a midpoint approach that assesses the risk of on-site and remote freshwater scarcity. For a 2 MWh Lithium-ion battery storage, the quantitative Water Scarcity Footprint, comprising physically used water, accounts for 33,155 regionally weighted m3 with highest contributions from Chilean lithium mining. The qualitative Water Scarcity Footprint, the virtual volume required to dilute pollutant emissions to safe concentrations, is approximately determined to 52 million m3 of regionally weighted demineralised water with highest contributions from copper and aluminium mining operations. As mining operations seem to have the highest impact, we recommend to consider the spatially-explicit water scarcity footprint for assessment of global material supply.

Highlights

The life cycle water scarcity footprint is a tool to evaluate anthropogenic contributions to regional water scarcity along global supply chains
In order to determine spatially explicit WSFs of product supply chains, this research wants to overcome the issues that (1) classifications of the risk associated with human water consumption differ, (2) there is a lack of a comprehensive conceptualisation of water use in LCA within a consistent hydrological framework and (3) that there is a lack of applied regionalisation
This study classifies a risk of human water consumption at midpoint level for LCA applications and goes one step further by defining impacts as exceedance of the Safe-OperatingSpace (SOS), which is derived from the Sustainable Development Goals[19]

Summary

Introduction

The life cycle water scarcity footprint is a tool to evaluate anthropogenic contributions to regional water scarcity along global supply chains. In order to determine spatially explicit WSFs of product supply chains, this research wants to overcome the issues that (1) classifications of the risk associated with human water consumption differ, (2) there is a lack of a comprehensive conceptualisation of water use in LCA within a consistent hydrological framework and (3) that there is a lack of applied regionalisation. Sub-indicators of the WSF are derived from this

Methods

Results

Conclusion