Environmental Impact and Assessment in Battery Manufacturing

Know and understand current battery technology and manufacturing materials

Key terminology and definitions; differentiate between a battery and cell (and module, pack), history of battery development, primary and secondary batteries.

Know and understand the current processes of making a Lithium-ion battery.

Electrode manufacturing steps, cell assembly steps, module and pack assembly.

Know and understand the difference between renewable energy sources and fossil fuel energy sources

Fossil fuels used in the battery manufacturing lifecycle, renewable energy sources used, comparisons between renewable and non-renewable (e.g. costs, depletion, environmental impact, energy production, sustainability.

Understand why batteries are important to the success of Net Zero Emissions.

What climate change is and what net zero aims to achieve, contributing factors and the importance of batteries in relation to Net Zero Emissions.

Recognise and understand an Environmental Impact Assessment.

Different environmental impacts, main purpose of an environmental impact assessment and key stages of conducting an environmental impact assessment.

Know and understand how energy contributes to environmental impact.

Impacts including air pollution, water pollution, thermal pollution and waste disposal; comparison of environmental impact differences between ICE and EV.

Demonstrate the process of undertaking an energy/environmental impact assessment.

Research and data collection to produce an environmental impact assessment report (e.g. on manufacturing of lithium-ion electric vehicle batteries).

This course is designed to provide an introduction to what an environmental impact assessment is and how to undertake one using given data. The course covers, in detail, the impact of battery manufacturing on the world, including socio-economic, financial, and environmental factors.