CAREER: End-of-life material flows from emerging lithium-ion battery systems

1254688 （Babbitt）该项目将量化和描述与广泛采用电动汽车所需的锂离子电池部署相关的预计寿命终止（EOL）流量以及随之而来的资源影响。虽然这些电池是一种很有前途的能源存储解决方案，但它们潜在的环境权衡尚未得到很好的表征。最近的工作集中在供应方面的问题，如锂的可用性，但关键的不确定性围绕着这些电池在废物流中的出现和管理，以及国内回收基础设施从高度可变的废弃电池组合中回收稀缺和有价值材料的能力。为了防止EOL电池产生和管理的潜在影响，需要采取积极主动的方法。该项目将对EOL电池流量和材料回收潜力进行全面评估，并将新型工业生态模型与经验方法相结合。综合研究和教育计划将解决四个挑战：(1)锂离子电池进入废物流的数量和速度是未知的，而且很难用现有的工业生态学方法（如物质流分析（MFA））来估计，因为电池和使用它们的车辆的寿命“不匹配”。该项目将采用生物生态学中的年龄结构人口模型，创建“混合寿命物质流模型”，预测锂离子电池未来的废物流；(2)实现该模型依赖于对电池和车辆寿命以及未来采用率的估计，而这些并没有完全表征。调查、情景建模和实证方法将用于参数化MFA，并创建基础数据，为未来电池和可持续性研究提供信息；(3)通过电池回收，关键矿物和其他有价金属能在多大程度上被回收到全球供应链中是未知的。该项目将物料流结果与EOL电池材料含量的实证表征以及国内锂离子电池回收能力的评估相结合。该“逆向供应链”将根据电池采用所需的材料需求估算进行评估；(4)在开发新技术时，往往缺乏系统级的可持续性考虑。将根据研究成果建立一个关于“储能系统生命周期思维”的综合教育计划，并与主要利益相关者分享。本文采用的方法和工业生态模型为EOL电池提供了见解，但也可应用于其他领域（如可再生能源系统）。研究将被整合到为一系列夏季丰富项目开发的教育模块中，旨在吸引K-12学生（主要来自代表性不足的群体）参与电池和可持续性研究，并激励他们追求可持续的工程职业。

1254688 (Babbitt) This project will quantify and characterize projected end-of-life (EOL) flows and attendant resource implications associated with deployment of lithium-ion batteries required for broad adoption of electric vehicles. While these batteries are a promising energy storage solution, their potential environmental tradeoffs are not well characterized. Recent work has focused on supply side issues, such as lithium availability, but key uncertainties surround the emergence and management of these batteries in the waste stream and the ability of domestic recycling infrastructure to recover scarce and valuable materials from a highly variable mix of discarded batteries. A proactive approach is required to prevent potential impacts of EOL battery generation and management. This project will generate a comprehensive assessment of EOL battery flows and material recovery potential, and to do so, will combine novel industrial ecology models with empirical approaches. The integrated research and education plan will address four challenges: (1) The volume and rate that lithium-ion batteries will reach the waste stream are unknown and not easily estimated with existing industrial ecology methods like material flow analysis (MFA), due to the "mismatch" between life spans of batteries and vehicles in which they are used. This project will adapt age-structured population models from biological ecology to create a "mixed lifespan material flow model" to forecast future waste flows of lithium-ion batteries; (2) Implementing this model is dependent on estimates of battery and vehicle life spans and future adoption rates, which are not fully characterized. Surveys, scenario modeling, and empirical methods will be used to parameterize the MFA and create fundamental data that can inform future study on batteries and sustainability; (3) The extent to which critical minerals and other valuable metals can be recovered to the global supply chain through battery recycling is unknown. This project will combine material flow results with empirical characterization of EOL battery material content and an assessment of domestic lithium-ion battery recycling capacity. This "reverse supply chain" will be evaluated against estimates of material demand required for battery adoption; (4) Systems-level sustainability considerations are often absent when new technology is developed. An integrated education program on "Life Cycle Thinking for Energy Storage Systems" will be built from research findings and shared with key stakeholders. The approach and industrial ecology models applied here provide insight to EOL batteries, but are translatable to other sectors (e.g., renewable energy systems). Research will be integrated into educational modules developed for a series of summer enrichment programs aimed at engaging K-12 students, primarily from underrepresented groups, in battery and sustainability research and inspiring them to pursue a sustainable engineering career.