Conference article

The lithium-ion battery is one of the most promising technologies for energy storage in many recent and emerging applications. However; the cost of lithium-ion batteries limits their penetration in the public market. Energy input is a significant cost driver for lithium batteries due to both the electrical and thermal energy required in the production process. The drying process requires 45~57% of the energy consumption of the production process according to a model presented in this paper. The model is used as a base for quantifying the energy and temperatures at each step; as replacing electric energy with thermal energy is considered. In Iceland; it is possible to use geothermal steam as a thermal resource in the drying process. The most feasible type of dryer and heating method for lithium batteries would be a tray dryer (batch) using a conduction heating method under vacuum operation. Replacing conventional heat sources with heat from geothermal steam in Iceland; we can lower the energy cost to 0.008USD/Ah from 0.13USD/Ah based on average European energy prices. The energy expenditure after 15 years operation could be close to 2% of total expenditure using this renewable resource; down from 12~15% in other European countries. According to our profitability model; the internal rate of return of this project will increase from 11% to 23% by replacing the energy source. The impact on carbon emissions amounts to 393.4-215.1g/Ah lower releases of CO₂ per year; which is only 2-5 % of carbon emissions related to battery production using traditional energy sources.

Lithium ion battery; Geothermal energy; Energy cost; Carbon emission