Life Cycle Assessment of Lithium-ion Batteries: A Critical Review

Evolving technological advances are predictable to promote environmentally sustainable development. Regardless the development of novel technologies including Li-ion batteries production, it is unrevealed whether emerging advances can cause lower environmental impacts compared to a future displaced developed technology. Therefore, a strong interest is triggered in the environmental consequences associated with the increasing existence of Lithium-ion battery (LIB) production and applications in mobile and stationary energy storage system. Various research on the possible environmental implications of LIB production and LIB-based electric mobility are available, with mixed results that are difficult to compare. Therefore, this paper provides a perspective of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in order to determine and overcome the environmental impacts with a focus on LIB production process, also the details regarding differences in previous LCA results and their consensus conclusion about environmental sustainability of LIBs. An overview of the analysis, the results and comparison of 80 selected studies is presented. This study also aims to adopt a scientific framework to LCA in order to identify the qualities and shortcomings of this method of analysis. Based on the results from reviewed studies, meta-analysis, different calculations and estimations of the environmental impacts of LIB production along with the outcomes of the different studies are also pointed out. Moreover, significance of key parameters for the environmental interpretation of not only Li-ion batteries but also next generation batteries is taken into account.