Development of a data transparency platform for sustainable battery material value chains

As the production of batteries for electromobility has a significant environmental impact, the European Union is currently developing a new Battery Regulation. It is expected that a declaration of the carbon footprint of batteries will be mandatory within the EU from July 2024 on. Thus, a data platform including also Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) information is needed which simultaneously considers the confidentiality needs of all partners in the value chain. Therefore, a concept for a data transparency platform using blockchain technology is proposed in the poster. The platform focusses on the first phases of the battery value chain, which are mining, refinement as well as electrode and cell production. As the basis for assessment, LCI datasets from databases such as ecoinvent can be used, completed with literature data. Two approaches for conducting LCA are suggested based on the using company’s capabilities and requirements: direct data collection and assessment or reporting of LCA results and validation. In the direct assessment, an LCA model can be configured and evaluated based on companies’ primary data. Alternatively, companies report the results of their own life cycle assessments and these are validated by the platform. In this way, LCA can be performed according to the requirements and capabilities of the different actors in the value chain.