Natural resource use of a traction lithium-ion battery production based on land disturbances through mining activities

Abstract

A transition in vehicle types has caused an increase in demand for traction batteries such as lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Studies assessing the impacts of mineral resources for traction LIB production in the life cycle assessment have been increasingly growing, but without sufficiently considering the volume of natural resource exploitation in the lithosphere. To evaluate the volume of natural resource use for traction LIB production, this study focuses on the land disturbances caused by mining activities of primary resources, which matches the concept of total material requirement (TMR). TMR involves direct and indirect resource inputs as well as the accompanying unused resource extraction or hidden flows related to mine waste, which is considered as the most comprehensive resource-related indicator. A sensitivity analysis and Monte Carlo simulation were conducted to evaluate the impact of uncertain contextual factors. It was found that natural resources that are approximately 189 times heavier than their original weights are exploited for traction LIB production, and Cu covers the greatest share based on TMR. Through the comparison between TMR and global warming potential, it was implied that the magnitude of resource use would be more significant than that of the environmental burden with regards to traction LIB in automobile production. The importance of TMR management was discussed by considering the risk of disastrous tailings dam collapses.