The harm of Lithium-Ion batteries

Lithium-Ion batteries are the most in-demand autonomous power source at the moment. While lead-acid batteries are mainly used as automotive batteries, lithium batteries have taken over every other niche. Flashlights, smartphones, laptops, modern backup power systems, and even electric cars almost all use lithium batteries as a power source.

When it comes to electric cars, they are called eco-friendly because they don’t emit harmful gases in the process. In reality, things are not as ideal as we would like them to be. The harm from the production of lithium batteries for a single electric car, according to some studies, is comparable to what a conventional car with an internal combustion engine emits into the atmosphere for several years. This is not least due to how many batteries are used in the car.

Are lithium batteries so bad for the environment and should humans do something about it? Let’s try to take a brief look at this question.

What are lithium-ion batteries

Lithium-ion batteries can be rightly called the most common batteries in human life in the 21st century. They are most often found in portable electronic devices such as phones, laptops, cameras, etc. Also, they are found in industrial fields – for example, uninterruptible power supplies, security systems, power units, street lighting, medical equipment. It is safe to say that such batteries are used in every modern home.

History of creation

It is believed that the first experimenter to create a lithium-based battery was Gilbert Newton Lewisis, who began research in 1912. But the technology proved to be very fanciful and dangerous. The first working samples appeared in the 1970s, but they could not be made rechargeable.

In the 1980s mass production of these batteries was launched but their use was limited due to their high explosive potential. This was caused by dendrites growing on the lithium surface as the electrode interacted with the current. This phenomenon led to short circuits and extremely high temperature rise of chemical elements.

In 1991 there was a technological breakthrough that was pivotal in the history of lithium batteries. The Japanese company Sony produced the world’s first rechargeable power sources. The development consisted in creating a matrix for lithium intercalation, which was lined with negative electrodes of carbon materials. The charge and discharge process consisted of the transfer of lithium ions from the positively charged electrode to the negative electrode and vice versa.

How batteries affect the environment

The environmental harm of batteries is convenient to consider with the example of an electric car for several reasons. Firstly, a huge number of batteries are used in an electric car. The impact of thousands of batteries installed in one car is much more indicative than a single battery in a smartphone. Secondly, it is convenient to consider the benefits or harms of “green” technologies against the background of traditional cars. Thirdly, electric cars most often use the most common models of lithium batteries. For example, the Tesla model S power pack consists of more than 7,000 conventional 18650 batteries, namely the Panasonic Li-ion NCR18650B.

Let’s try to consider the direct and indirect impact of lithium batteries on the environment and humans on the example of the automotive industry and prove that everything is not so unambiguous. At least at the current level of technology.

The first thing to consider is the harm caused by the production of batteries. First of all, the production is harmful to the workers of the plant where the battery is made. More than one toxic material is used in the composition of lithium batteries. These include, for example, cobalt, nickel, and lithium boride. Production of lithium-ion batteries is the most hazardous than production of other types of batteries.

Then the process of battery operation begins. While driving an electric car does not emit harmful gases, unlike an internal combustion engine, these gases are emitted by the power plant to produce electricity. Since the largest share of the generated energy comes from power plants that burn fuel (coal, gas), the harm to the environment can be called tangible. Nevertheless, even with this, an electric car will be at least twice as environmentally friendly. This is not least due to the low efficiency of internal combustion engines, which does not even reach 50%. Although, the efficiency of electric cars is not ideal either, plus the battery is subject to self-discharge even when not under load. It’s like a gas tank that leaks a little bit. The energy industry is undergoing serious development and an increasing percentage of energy is being generated from renewable sources (solar, wind and water). Along with this, the indirect harm from battery operation is correspondingly decreasing.

Probably the biggest problem is the end of the battery life cycle. As mentioned earlier, lithium batteries are manufactured using toxic substances that cannot be buried in the ground. Toxic elements negatively affect the soil and its renewal, and they also get into the groundwater.

It is also worth noting that batteries are not only dangerous to the environment, but also to humans. There are many cases of batteries spontaneously combusting, which can lead to a fire. Most often the ignition is due to a sudden increase in temperature due to a short circuit of the electrodes. Unfortunately, the short circuit is not always caused by physical action on the battery. This can be caused by a technical defect (many are aware of the case of mass ignition of Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones) or complex internal processes during aging.

What we can do

Because of electric cars alone, the production of lithium batteries is growing at an enormous rate. Is this a problem and can humans do something about it? Everyone can make a small contribution by donating batteries for recycling. Even if we are talking about conventional batteries. This will help reduce the percentage of harmful substances going into the soil.

If you think more globally, you need to move in two directions: the development of recycling technology, as well as production technology. By improving recycling technology, it may be possible to achieve almost zero emissions of harmful substances into the soil.

The most global way to reduce environmental damage is to invent new energy conservation technologies that are both more efficient and less toxic. There is a lot of work being done in this area. The invention of a new kind of battery could revolutionize not only the automotive industry, but also the field of mobile electronics.

What can be summed up? Lithium batteries are certainly indispensable in some areas of activity, and in others they are a good and relatively environmentally friendly counterpart to traditional technologies. Unfortunately, the development of the battery industry is much slower than other areas of activity. We can only hope that the electric car boom will be a reason to discover new, more environmentally friendly and efficient ways of storing energy.