The market for electric cars is growing, and so is the demand for batteries. In his doctoral thesis, Mudit Chordia examines where their environmental impact occurs – the extraction of raw materials, the manufacture of battery cells in large factories, and the handling of battery packs when they are no longer in use. The results show that because larger factories manufacture batteries much more efficiently, the supply chain for the materials has a major impact on how “green” these batteries really are, and the understanding of this in turn depends on the modeling choices.
What challenges do you focus on in your research?
"Most life cycle assessments (LCAs) of batteries published when I started my doctoral project reported very high emissions from battery cell manufacturing. I also noted that many of these studies referred to each other and that there were shortcomings in the data. The environmental impact of recycling battery materials was also not well documented."
How did you address the problem?
"I developed an LCA data model for the type of large-scale battery production that has gained momentum over the past five years, and compared it with the type of smaller factories that previous studies had covered. I have also collected large amounts of data on raw material extraction and recycling, and analyzed the environmental impact of these phases in the battery life cycle."
What are the main findings?
"The main findings of my research are that large battery factories reduce the impact per unit produced because they are more efficient, but also that they also create new local challenges with emissions and put more focus on chemical use and production related wastes. When production switches to low-carbon electricity, the impact is shifted upstream to mining. Emissions from mining vary depending on the type and quality of the ore and the extraction method."
"Recycling could reduce the climate impact of some battery materials by up to 90% compared to primary extraction alone, if recycling is highly efficient and all losses are minimized. Finally, LCA results are highly dependent on the data we put into the models, so it is very important to collect representative data and critically evaluate the data set."
What do you hope your research will lead to?
"I hope that my research, at a time when society is shifting towards electromobility, can help us from avoid repeating the same mistakes we made with fossil fuel-powered cars – overlooking hidden effects. My goal is to guide policymakers, industry, and researchers toward cleaner production, fairer purchasing, and more efficient recycling, so that batteries can truly contribute to a low-carbon future. I do this by highlighting where the environmental impact of battery production and supply chains is greatest today."
Read the thesis: Batteries at Crossroads: Past, Present, and Future Environmental Impacts of Lithium-ion Batteries
Public defence: 24 September 2025 at 13.15, see link above.
- Visiting Researcher, Environmental Systems Analysis, Technology Management and Economics