Cradle-to-Gate Analysis of the Embodied Energy in Lithium Ion Batteries

Battery technology is increasingly seen as an integral element for future energy and transportation systems. Current developments in industry show an increasing number and size of battery producing factories, thus leading to an immense energy demand not only during the production of battery cells but also raw material extraction. Determining the embodied energy of battery cells allows a comparison with alternative energy systems and assessing the overall energy demand that can contribute to define measures for the improvement of its environmental footprint. The present work provides an analysis of the production of battery cells regarding their embodied energy. In order to quantify the embodied energy, a material and energy flow analysis (MEFA) was adapted towards battery production. The methodology focuses on the manufacturing processes and considers indirect and direct energy consumers, different machine states and existing yield losses along the value chain. The approach was applied to the battery manufacturing in the Battery LabFactory Braunschweig (BLB).