A flexible tool for the multi-attribute evaluation of Lithium-ion batteries

Abstract

Lithium-ion batteries are among the most advanced electrochemical storage technologies and they are critical to the transition to sustainable energy systems. Despite their maturity, different chemistries are characterized by different technical, economic, environmental, and raw materials supply risks, highlighting the need for a comprehensive assessment. Seven lithium-ion battery chemistries were evaluated according to two domains: the techno-economic domain and the environmental and supply risk domain, and synthesized into an overall index called the Energy Storage Sustainability Index. A flexible multi-attribute evaluation tool, called Sustainable Technology Performance, has been developed based on the Multi-Attribute Value Theory model and the Analytic Hierarchy Process weighting method. The model’s uncertainties are addressed by employing various marginal value functions and scenarios for the weights of the domains in the main simulations, and variation for the input data and a different weighting procedure for the attributes in the five sensitivity analyses conducted. The Lithium Iron Phosphate-Natural Graphite battery emerges as the preferred option, performing better in three out of five scenarios in Simulation 1 and four out of five in Simulation 2, with high techno-economic scores (0.88 for Simulation 1 and 0.93 for Simulation 2) and good environmental and supply risk scores (0.47 for Simulation 1 and 0.6 for Simulation 2). Sensitivity analyses show that changing the weighting procedure from AHP to equal weights increases the contribution of attributes where the Lithium Iron Phosphate-Natural Graphite alternative underperforms, such as energy density and resource depletion. Overall, this alternative is preferred in most of the scenarios analyzed (twenty-six over fifty), highlighting its strengths in the techno-economic dimension.