This month we launched an exciting project with the University of Michigan’s Center for Sustainable Systems to develop the “green principles” for responsible vehicle battery management. Based on the established green principles for stationary applications, this new project will examine and characterize the environmental profile of vehicle energy storage throughout its life-cycle, including the energy used and emissions resulting from the service of the battery. A set of green principles for battery technology in mobile applications will be developed for multiple stakeholders involved in the development of sustainable battery life cycle management practices (e.g., battery manufacturer, OEMs, material suppliers, national labs, and recyclers). The research should be complete by late August of this year and will be published in a peer-reviewed journal for broad dissemination in the scientific and stakeholder communities. The published results will describe the principles, including applications, metrics and methods for assessment, and tradeoffs that complicate achievement of environmental improvements.We are excited about this new research as it supports the work of the RBC in advancing the best practices for managing the next generation of battery technologies.
