6 The Impacts of Electric Vehicles …
209
by women and children. The Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations
estimated that 40,000 children work in underground tunnels, without basic safety
equipment. In addition, due to a lack of preventative measures, lots of cobalt miners
have extremely high levels of toxic metals in their body, which could cause them
more susceptible to respiratory illness, heart disease, or even cancer. Mining of
lithium in Chile has been in dispute for depleting local groundwater resources across
the Atacama Desert, which destroys ecosystems and converts meadows and lagoons
into salt flats. Refining of nickel presents a similar problem, such as the tailings out of
nickel HPAL operations in Indonesia that may be dumped into deep sea, challenging
ocean environment with potential spills.
The high potential risks give rise to public concerns over the stable reserves
and production of these metals to meet the growing consumption needs of lithium
battery products. By now, many assessments and diagnoses have been conducted
on the sustainable supply of resources associated with lithium battery. Criticality
assessment is a commonly used method in answering such questions, aims at identifying materials of high supply risk and those significant for the economic system,
which can be understood as supply risk in a broad sense. The methodological framework normally consists of three dimensions: supply risk, environmental impact and
vulnerability of the system to the supply disruption (Graedel et al. 2015). Each dimension comprises multiple geographical, socio-economic and environmental indicators. The criticality of materials associated with lithium battery has been assessed in
numerous studies. Olivetti et al. calculated the content of various metals in the lithium
battery and compared the scale of supply constraints of these metals (Olivetti et al.
2017). Helbig et al. rated the supply risk of lithium battery based on 11 indicators
(Helbig et al. 2018); while Dehghani-Sanij et al. came up with the environmental
impact of various energy storage systems, including the impact of lithium battery
(Dehghani-Sanij et al. 2019).
Despite a litany of research, some gaps still exist in these studies. In the current
assessment, indicators adopted mainly focus on the mineral production stage because
all materials considered are in mineral type, with no regard to the supply risk of
lithium battery materials in the downstream processing stages of the supply chain.
One of the reasons is that the methodology for resources criticality assessment was
developed on fossil fuels and bulk consumption materials before expansion of the
research to new materials for innovative technologies. Another reason is that the
distribution of mineral supply is mainly driven by resources endowment and prone
to natural disasters. Compared to downstream processing, mining is less influenced
by human activities. This explains why this phase where less human intervention is
found has captured more attention.
Yet it should be noted that metallic minerals and fossil energy are utilized in
vastly different ways. Trading of fossil fuels only takes place in the first stage of
energy supply chain, and downstream processing and consumption usually occurs
within certain countries and regions. On the contrary, a more dispersive supply chain
exists with the consumption of mineral resources from primary extraction to final
utilization, where international trade can be conducted in any stage of processing.
In the context of economic globalization, differences between upstream and downstream prevail in the distribution of raw materials supply. Besides, risk management
209
by women and children. The Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations
estimated that 40,000 children work in underground tunnels, without basic safety
equipment. In addition, due to a lack of preventative measures, lots of cobalt miners
have extremely high levels of toxic metals in their body, which could cause them
more susceptible to respiratory illness, heart disease, or even cancer. Mining of
lithium in Chile has been in dispute for depleting local groundwater resources across
the Atacama Desert, which destroys ecosystems and converts meadows and lagoons
into salt flats. Refining of nickel presents a similar problem, such as the tailings out of
nickel HPAL operations in Indonesia that may be dumped into deep sea, challenging
ocean environment with potential spills.
The high potential risks give rise to public concerns over the stable reserves
and production of these metals to meet the growing consumption needs of lithium
battery products. By now, many assessments and diagnoses have been conducted
on the sustainable supply of resources associated with lithium battery. Criticality
assessment is a commonly used method in answering such questions, aims at identifying materials of high supply risk and those significant for the economic system,
which can be understood as supply risk in a broad sense. The methodological framework normally consists of three dimensions: supply risk, environmental impact and
vulnerability of the system to the supply disruption (Graedel et al. 2015). Each dimension comprises multiple geographical, socio-economic and environmental indicators. The criticality of materials associated with lithium battery has been assessed in
numerous studies. Olivetti et al. calculated the content of various metals in the lithium
battery and compared the scale of supply constraints of these metals (Olivetti et al.
2017). Helbig et al. rated the supply risk of lithium battery based on 11 indicators
(Helbig et al. 2018); while Dehghani-Sanij et al. came up with the environmental
impact of various energy storage systems, including the impact of lithium battery
(Dehghani-Sanij et al. 2019).
Despite a litany of research, some gaps still exist in these studies. In the current
assessment, indicators adopted mainly focus on the mineral production stage because
all materials considered are in mineral type, with no regard to the supply risk of
lithium battery materials in the downstream processing stages of the supply chain.
One of the reasons is that the methodology for resources criticality assessment was
developed on fossil fuels and bulk consumption materials before expansion of the
research to new materials for innovative technologies. Another reason is that the
distribution of mineral supply is mainly driven by resources endowment and prone
to natural disasters. Compared to downstream processing, mining is less influenced
by human activities. This explains why this phase where less human intervention is
found has captured more attention.
Yet it should be noted that metallic minerals and fossil energy are utilized in
vastly different ways. Trading of fossil fuels only takes place in the first stage of
energy supply chain, and downstream processing and consumption usually occurs
within certain countries and regions. On the contrary, a more dispersive supply chain
exists with the consumption of mineral resources from primary extraction to final
utilization, where international trade can be conducted in any stage of processing.
In the context of economic globalization, differences between upstream and downstream prevail in the distribution of raw materials supply. Besides, risk management