Re:Ditch the Batteries: Off-Grid Compressed Air Energy Storage
by jdietrich on Thursday May 24, 2018 @11:06AM
(#17144695)
>we haven't stopped to consider the environmental impact
We have. We've painstakingly analysed the energy and material inputs and the pollution outputs of the entire lifecycle of a lithium battery pack. After considering all these factors, lithium batteries remain an attractive energy storage option.
>the incredible task of recycling these once they've outlived their usefulness
Recycling lithium battery packs is complex and hazardous, but no more so than a multitude of other industrial processes. There is already substantial recycling capacity, thanks in part to the EU's WEEE directive. Using existing technologies, only 1% of the pack mass goes to landfill. We can't yet recover all of the lithium in a useful form, but we can recover most of the cobalt.
We have. We've painstakingly analysed the energy and material inputs and the pollution outputs of the entire lifecycle of a lithium battery pack. After considering all these factors, lithium batteries remain an attractive energy storage option.
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-48768-7_...
>the incredible task of recycling these once they've outlived their usefulness
Recycling lithium battery packs is complex and hazardous, but no more so than a multitude of other industrial processes. There is already substantial recycling capacity, thanks in part to the EU's WEEE directive. Using existing technologies, only 1% of the pack mass goes to landfill. We can't yet recover all of the lithium in a useful form, but we can recover most of the cobalt.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/978111899197...