Jens F. Peters

University of Alcalá | UAH · Department of Economics

*/*/* FREE READ-ONLY ACCESS VIA: https://rdcu.be/c5Mvs */*/* Life cycle assessment (LCA) is one of the most prominent methodologies for evaluating potential environmental impacts of products and is frequently applied for assessing energy storage. However, while an increasing number of LCA studies on batteries are available, these often lack transpa...

Sodium-ion batteries (SIB) are considered as a promising alternative to overcome existing sustainability challenges related to Lithium-ion batteries (LIB), such as the use of critical and expensive materials with high environmental impacts. In contrast to established LIBs, SIBs are an emerging technology in an early stage of development where a cha...

Sodium-ion batteries (SIB) are among the most promising type of post-lithium batteries, being promoted for environmental friendliness and the avoidance of scarce or critical raw materials. However, the knowledge-base in this regard is weak, and comparatively little is known about the environmental performance of different SIB types in comparison wi...

The ongoing energy transition is causing rapid changes in the electricity system and, in consequence, the environmental impacts associated with electricity generation. In parallel, the daily variability of generation increases with higher shares of renewable energies. This affects the potential environmental impacts or benefits of devices with vari...

This study analyses the effect of a representative low-emission zone (LEZ) in Madrid on shifting vehicle registrations towards alternative fuel technologies and its effectiveness for reducing vehicle fleet CO2 emissions. Vehicle registration data is combined with real life fuel consumption values on individual vehicle model level, and the impact of...

Among the current post‐lithium‐ion battery (LIB) developments, sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs) are considered as the most advanced, with several start‐ups already aiming to commercialize their developments on the free market. SIBs are based on essentially the same principle as LIB sharing major parts of their electrochemistry. This chapter aims to prov...

The 2nd AScUS Unconference hosted a workshop on the future of Urban mobility, aimed at elaborating a vision of a future city fully aligned to sustainability criteria and, starting from this, backcast the role that Urban Metabolism (UM) studies could (or should) have for achieving it. The Workshop involved 21 UM researchers, developing ideas about h...

While the market for battery home storage systems (HSS) is growing rapidly, there are still few well-modelled life cycle assessment (LCA) studies available for quantifying their potential environmental benefits and impacts. Existing studies mainly rely on data for electric vehicles and often lack a thorough modelling approach, especially regarding...

Having transformed our way of life, rechargeable batteries are poised for exponential growth over the coming decade, notably due to the wider adoption of electric vehicles. An international expert panel proposes a combination of vision, innovation and practice for feasible pathways toward sustainable batteries.

Clearly and accurately communicating the economic, environmental, and social benefits of solar PV prosumerism poses significant challenges. Previous research shows that government policies and public engagement campaigns can positively impact solar prosumerism; however, little is known about the quality and accuracy of information exchanged between...

Correction for ‘On the environmental competitiveness of sodium-ion batteries under a full life cycle perspective – a cell-chemistry specific modelling approach’ by Jens F. Peters et al. , Sustainable Energy Fuels , 2021, 5 , 6414–6429, DOI: 10.1039/D1SE01292D.

While resource aspects are gaining increasing importance for the sustainability assessment of new technologies, the question of how to assess the depletion of abiotic resources is still controversially discussed. Different methodologies exist for their quantification within life cycle assessment (LCA). Among them, thermodynamic approaches have the...

Information about the potential environmental impacts of post-lithium batteries is scarce. For this reason, this work provides a prospective life-cycle assessment of a hypothetical commercial MgS battery based on primary information obtained for a prototype cell. The Mg-S battery is found to have a good environmental performance with potential to o...

This study analyses the actual effect of a representative low-emission zone (LEZ) in terms of shifting vehicle registrations towards alternative fuel technologies and its effectiveness for reducing vehicle fleet CO2 emissions. Vehicle registration data is combined with real life fuel consumption values on individual vehicle model level, and the imp...

As environmental concerns mostly drive the electrification of our economy and the corresponding increase in demand for battery storage systems, information about the potential environmental impacts of the different battery systems is required. However, this kind of information is scarce for emerging post-lithium systems such as the magnesium-sulfur...

Battery storage systems (BESS) are considered as an option to enable a decarbonized electricity system, allowing to integrate higher shares of renewable energy sources (RES). There are several technologies available, and the choice of the best option is based on the requirements of a given application field. At the same time, stakeholder expectatio...

This study presents a multi‐criteria decision making analysis (MCDA) of eight different utility‐scale battery storage technologies for four different application areas, involving 72 relevant stakeholders from industry and academia for criteria selection and weighting. The assessment is carried out for economic, environmental, technological, and soc...

Based on a review of existing LCA studies on LIB recycling, we develop parametrized models of three different recycling processes for their application to different cell chemistries, including beyond-lithium batteries like sodium-ion (SIB). The models are complemented by primary data obtained from a recycling company and are used for quantifying th...

This article provides an outline of the currently existing and possible future recycling pathways for end‐of‐life lithium‐ion batteries and corresponding current industry activities. Beginning with an outlook onto current and possible future demand for lithium batteries and corresponding resource limitations, it addresses the current state of the a...

*** POST-PRINT AVAILABLE ON ZENODO: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4575369 *** ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sodium-ion batteries are increasingly being promoted as a promising alternative to current lithium-ion batteries. The substitution o...

Stationary batteries are one of the key components of the energy transition(s). They are necessary for providing flexibility to the grid and ensuring a stable power supply. However, their production and disposal are also associated with significant environmental impacts. This chapter discusses the material and environmental implications of a hypoth...

Although lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) dominate the market for rechargeable batteries, alternative chemistries are under investigation to develop new batteries, so-called “post-lithium” systems. Among these alternatives, magnesium rechargeable batteries (MRBs) are considered promising, because they use low cost, abundant materials and offer potentia...

Energy storage systems (ESS) are seen as one of the main pillars for a renewable-based energy system. Selecting the most suitable and sustainable ESS for a given project is a problem that involves multiple stakeholders with quite often diverging objectives that cannot all be fulfilled by a single technology. Several studies are available that tackl...

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) are a recent development being promoted repeatedly as an economically promising alternative to lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, only one detailed study about material costs has yet been published for this battery type. This paper presents the first detailed economic assessment of 18,650-type SIB cells with a layere...

Recent decades have seen huge growth in the renewable energy sector, spurred on by concerns about climate change and dwindling supplies of fossil fuels. One of the major difficulties raised by an increasing reliance on renewable resources is the inflexibility when it comes to controlling supply in response to demand. For example, solar energy can o...

Analyse sustainability implications of emerging and present energy storage technologies and flexibility options for grid applications. Use of a life cycle perspective including extraction of materials, manufacturing, use and disposal of technology.

Dieser Report enthält die gesammelten Ergebnisse des Workshops und Expertenforums vom 6.Juni 2018 in Karlsruhe. Available under: https://publikationen.bibliothek.kit.edu/1000085778

* * * INVENTORY DATA AND SI AVAILABLE ON ZENODO: * * https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4575234 * * * Batteries are one of the key technologies for flexible energy systems in future. In particular, vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB) are well suited to provide modular and scalable energy storage due to favourable characteristics such as long cycle lif...

Environmental assessment of vanadium redox flow batteries (VFB) by means of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

Li-Ionenbatterien können einen wertvollen Beitrag zur sicheren Systemintegration erneuerbarer Energien im Rahmen der Energiewende liefern. Allerdings ist die Produktion dieser Systeme noch relativ teuer sowie energie- und emissionsintensiv und keine Batterie kann allen Anforderungen hinsichtlich Umweltverträglichkeit und Kosten gerecht werden. Im R...

The worldwide development and market penetration of electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid cars has lagged far behind initial expectations and prognoses. However, more recent discussions about petrol and diesel car emissions seem to accelerate the market penetration of battery-based mobility and other alternative options. Many big car manufacturers hav...

Integration of Renewables Energy Systems (photovoltaics and wind turbines) within decentralized grid systems (DG).

Aqueous hybrid ion batteries (AHIB) are being promoted as an environmentally friendly alternative to existing stationary battery technologies. However, no quantification of their potential environmental impacts has yet been done. This paper presents a prospective life cycle assessment of an AHIB module and compares its performance with lithium-ion...

//***** SUPP. INFO and INVENTORY DATA for import available on ZENODO: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4574576 ******// Numerous studies exist on the environmental impact of Li-Ion battery (LIB) production. Nevertheless, these studies use different impact assessment methods and different approaches for modelling key aspects like energy demand for cel...

Battery storage is considered as crucial for the safe operation and design of hybrid micro-grid systems (HMGS) by balancing load and generation from renewable energy sources. However, several battery technologies are available for this purpose, with different greenhouse gas emissions associated with their production. This paper applies a canon...

Storage technologies have to fulfil simultaneously multiple requirements such as high power and high energy density, long life, excellent safety, abuse-resistance, a wide bandwidth of operating temperatures, low cost and minimal environmental impacts. Nowadays no technology can meet perfectly all of these goals, while different technologies are com...

The depletion of biotic and abiotic resources is gaining increasing importance for the sustainability assessment of new technologies. In the field of batteries, potential resource depletion impacts are discussed repeatedly, especially in relation with the expected transition towards electric mobility. Different methodologies exist for their quantif...

Environmental performance of Li-ion batteries for direct marketing of wind power – intermediate results

Life Cycle Costs Model for Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries

Most biorefinery processes are still in an early stage of development. Some pilot and demonstration plants exist, but little or no information is available from real installations at commercial scale, which is needed to determine their economic and environmental feasibility. Process simulation is a powerful tool to address this issue, since it is p...

* * * All files available at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4580468 * * * This paper presents a novel kinetic reaction model for biomass pyrolysis processes. The model is based on the three main building blocks of lignocellulosic biomass, cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin and can be readily implemented in Aspen Plus and easily adapted to other p...

The increasing presence of Li-Ion batteries (LIB) in mobile and stationary energy storage applications has triggered a growing interest in the environmental impacts associated with their production. Numerous studies on the potential environmental impacts of LIB production and LIB-based electric mobility are available, but these are very heterogeneo...

Life Cycle Assessment is a methodology for the evaluation of potential hazards to the environment and to human health. It can be used for decision support when selecting materials for a product. It is a detailed method that can become very labor intensive. As alternatives, we introduce here two methodologies for ranking products and materials accor...

Resource depletion aspects are repeatedly used as an argument for a shift towards new battery technologies. However, whether serious shortages due to the increased demand for traction and stationary batteries can actually be expected is subject to an ongoing discussion. In order to identify the principal drivers of resource depletion for battery pr...

Batteries are considered as one of the key flexibility options for future energy storage systems. However, their production is costand greenhouse-gas intensive and efforts are made to decrease their price and carbon footprint. We combine life cycle assessment, Monte- Carlo simulation and size optimization to determine life-cycle costs and carbon em...

Prospective Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the use of nanofiber materials, produced by electrospinning, in batteries

HIU Research Group System III (Resources, Recycling, Environment and Sustainability) is dedicated to system analysis of electrochemical storage systems. Here, technical systems analysis converges with ecological and economic systems analysis. The goal is to take aspects of sustainability into account at the earliest possible point in time during th...

Building a common base for LCA benchmarking of Li-Ion batteries: Poster presented at the 26th SETAC Annual Meeting in nantes

The increased use of electric and electronic equipment (EEE) has turned their waste into a pollution problem worldwide. As a complex environmental burden, over the years the management of waste from electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) has been the object of a number of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies. For this presentation, we reviewed 47...

Poster presented at SETAC 26th Annual Meeting in Nantes

Poster presented at 10th SAM Conference in Rome

Sodium-ion batteries are emerging as potential alternatives to lithium-ion batteries. This study presents a prospective life cycle assessment for the production of a sodium-ion battery with a layered transition metal oxide as a positive electrode material and hard carbon as a negative electrode material on the battery component level. The complete...

Electrochemical energy storage systems are considered as a key technology for electro mobility and the German energy turnaround. Life cycle assessment does not only reveal the environmental impacts of battery production, but can also quantitatively evaluate the potential environmental advantages of electric vehicles against vehicles with convention...

The application of biochar as a soil amendment is a potential strategy for carbon sequestration. In this paper, a slow pyrolysis system for generating heat and biochar from lignocellulosic energy crops is simulated and its life-cycle performance compared with that of direct biomass combustion. The use of the char as biochar is also contrasted with...

The biofuel policy is at a turning point. Conventional biofuels proved to achieve lower greenhouse gas emission reductions than initially thought and increasing evidence is found that other potential environmental impacts are much more severe than expected. Second generation biofuels from lignocellulosic feedstocks are therefore considered crucial...

In this study, different alternatives of bio-oil use are evaluated through life cycle assessment. Bio-oil is produced via fast pyrolysis of hybrid poplar and used as a fuel for cogeneration in a district heating plant, for co-combustion in a coal power plant, or as feedstock for its upgrading via hydrotreating in biorefineries. For the latter, two...

A biofuel process chain based on fast pyrolysis of hybrid poplar and subsequent hydroupgrading of the obtained bio-oil is simulated using Aspen Plus�. The simulation includes the pyrolysis plant and the biorefinery with its hydrotreating, hydrocracking, distillation and steam reforming sections. All parts of the process are modeled with a high leve...

This paper presents the first assessment of the exergetic performance of a biorefinery process based on catalytic hydroupgrading of bio-oil from fast pyrolysis. Lignocellulosic biomass is converted into bio-oil through fast pyrolysis, which is then upgraded to synthetic fuels in a catalytic hydrotreating process. The biorefinery process is simulate...

Second generation biofuels from lignocellulosic biomass are considered a key for further deploying biofuels in a sustainable way. Apart from the biochemical pathway (lignocellulosic ethanol), the thermochemical pathways offer potentially higher conversion efficiencies since they can also convert the lignin fraction of the biomass. Two important the...

A novel simulation model for pyrolysis processes of lignocellulosic biomass in AspenPlus ® was presented at the BC&E 2013. Based on kinetic reaction mechanisms, the simulation calculates product compositions and yields depending on reactor conditions (temperature, residence time, flue gas flow rate) and feedstock composition (biochemical compositio...

This paper presents an exergetic analysis of a fast pyrolysis plant simulated in Aspen Plus, producing crude bio-oil from lignocellulosic feedstock (hybrid poplar woodchips). The simulation includes the drying and pretreatment of the biomass, the pyrolysis reactor, product recovery, and a combustion reactor that provides the process heat. Chemical...

This work presents a novel Aspen Plus® model of pyrolysis processes for lignocellulosic feedstocks. Based on kinetic reaction mechanisms, the simulation calculates product yields and composition depending on reactor conditions (temperature, residence time, flue gas flow rate) and feedstock composition (cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin fraction,...

Two pyrolysis-based biosynfuel pathways are compared via life cycle assessment regarding their cumulative non-renewable energy demand (CED) and global warming potential (GWP). An avoided burden approach is used for dealing with the different products. Biosynfuels are produced by slow or fast pyrolysis of short-rotation poplar followed by hydrotreat...

This article evaluates the environmental performance of a biofuel production system based on the fast pyrolysis of short-rotation poplar biomass using a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach. The system includes a circulating fluidized bed reactor followed by bio-oil upgrading through hydrotreating and hydrocracking to produce gasoline and diesel. T...

This work presents the life cycle assessment (LCA) of a pyrolysis-based system for biofuel production. Hybrid poplar wood from short-rotation plantations is converted to synthetic fuels by fast pyrolysis and subsequent hydroupgrading. The inventory data for the pyrolysis and upgrading facilities are derived through process simulation in Aspen Plus,...