“I would like nuclear fusion to become a practical power source. It would provide an inexhaustible supply of energy, without pollution or global warming.”
To put it simply, nuclear fusion is the science of blending or fusing lighter atomic particles in a mass accelerator and utilizing the energy released during the process. Whereas, nuclear fission is the science of splitting or detonating heavier atomic elements like Uranium and utilizing the energy released by the process.
How is nuclear energy harnessed as of 2022?
By means of nuclear power plants, they constitute around 10% of global electricity generation as of 2022 and all of them currently derive power or convert energy by means of nuclear fission. This does provide a cleaner alternative to traditional (coal-fired) thermal power plants but has its own inherent risk of operation.
The risk of Nuclear Fission.
Most of us have heard of the terms ‘Chornobyl disaster‘ in Russia or the ‘Fukushima disaster‘ in Japan. These nuclear power plant disasters were caused by multiple factors and simple mistakes leading to structural damage, eventually compromising the containment of fissile nuclear material and the facilities altogether. Nuclear fission is only considered stable when it is properly controlled and maintained. Once it is triggered, it needs to be constantly managed through a chain of critical processes to keep it functioning safely. One cannot just switch it off willy-nilly or have a catastrophic earthquake tear through it and expect things to be safe.
Although many kinds of different particles can be used to trigger a nuclear fission event, the most commonly used fuels are hydrogen isotopes; Deuterium, a stable isotope available naturally in seawater, and Tritium, an artificially created radioactive isotope. Deuterium is derived using various chemical processes, whereas Tritium is found in functioning nuclear power plants or artificially created using a process called Tritium breeding. It should be noted that either of these processes is energy heavy and not easy to derive. Making this one of the biggest hurdles with regard to the development of nuclear fusion technology.
What do you think about the scientific journey of nuclear power generation so far? Do let me know in the comments below.
Today, the human race has collectively embraced battery-powered Electric Vehicles as our next large-scale mobility solution, so it is important to know about the complete life cycle of the prototypical lithium-ion battery. To begin with, batteries are toxic and have a negative impact on the environment if left to biodegrade. However, a used battery can yield sizable amounts of reusable material through recycling, making this business a profitable venture. Unlike plastic, this is a good situation to be in since it encourages investors to invest in the post-use stage of a battery’s life cycle.
At the moment, almost 75% of waste material in a battery recycling factory comes from the production or manufacturing of new EV batteries instead of waste derived from used EV batteries. Simply said, there just aren’t enough scrap EV batteries to kickstart the EV recycling revolution yet. Moreover, with EV batteries getting drastically more efficient in the last few years, the market is unlikely to have adequate scrap batteries for this industry until the mid-2030s or later. *Reference Link
This poses a momentary 15-20 year gap in the process of implementing optimum battery waste management. A situation wherein, legitimate investors remain bearish about entering the recycling market due to supply chain issues whilst parallel market forces push hard for the EV revolution on a global scale. This problem can become even more amplified in regions of the globe that suffer from negligible or non-existent standards of environmental policy administration.
To understand that comprehensively, one needs to break down the recycling process of batteries. Lead acid batteries, like the ones used to start a petrol-engined vehicle, are broken into little pieces and put into an industrial vat. Lead being heavier sinks to the bottom while polypropylene pieces float up, separating the two. Lithium-ion batteries like the ones used in EVs are recycled to recover lithium, cobalt, manganese, and nickel through similar mechanical and hydrometallurgical processes called low carbon dioxide processes.
The caveat in this hot topic comes in the form of ‘black mass’ or ‘black mass powder’, a by-product of the lithium-ion battery recycling process. Black Mass Powder is basically what is leftover after lithium-ion batteries are recycled.
The Paradox
This leftover material is still rich and can be further recycled to obtain more chemicals and minerals, eventually making it a highly profitable business as well. The catch is, this leftover black mass powder would need several pyrometallurgical processes to recover anything more from its current state, processes similar to smelting at over 1500 degrees C called high carbon dioxide processes. *Reference Link. Pyrometallurgical factories functioning on an industrial scale would directly contradict net zero goals as well as the basic purpose of going electric in the first place.
The Potential Powder Keg
While marketing companies and EV manufacturers around the globe beat their drums to an ecofriendly and green tune. While governments subsidize the use of EVs to flex their soft power to their vote-banks, it is very easy to become blissfully ignorant and put this intermittent issue under the rug. Instead, having the foresight and better data could help people mitigate this gap more effectively.
Most data points with regard to EVs in general come from developed countries, making our data set severely malnourished. For example, Norway is reported to have the most number of electric car sales in the world as of now. Yes, they sell more Teslas and the likes, but that doesn’t account for the flood of assembled electric tuk-tuks or cobbled-up electric scooters sold across high-density developing nations in Africa and Asia with barely any climate policy charter in prace.
When it comes to recycling of EV batteries specifically, our data points are even more unbalanced or opaque, as 80% of global Lithium-ion scrap batteries are recycled in China. This is also natural because China’s EV industry is 10 years older than most other countries. So much so that by 2025 it is expected that the nation will have over 6 million aging electric vehicles ready to be recycled. Perhaps they will take the lead in setting good environmental standards, who knows? *Reference Link . Given that so much of raw materials can be recovered from a lithium ion battery, it seems likely that lithium ion scrap stockpiles would be recycled through pyrometallurgical processes, with much of it being underreported in a global context.
Developing or third-world nations suffer from the effects of extreme poverty making black mass powder an attractive proposition to purchase in unregulated markets around the world. Without a global support ecosystem set up, It would end up being processed in highly unsafe environments causing physical harm to workers and their surroundings whilst dealing a huge blow to global environmental efforts. Below is an example of a lithium ion battery that snuck its way into a common metal shredder.
From a global perspective, only a small number of recycling plants have advanced fire monitoring systems or mitigatory plans in place, with most underdeveloped nations still using the landfill-burn method. Moreover, even in the continental USA, there has been a sharp rise in landfill fires, indicating further credence to similar unrecorded occurrences in developing or undeveloped nations. Reference Link
Conclusion
Yes, EV battery recycling is headed towards sustainable and environmentally friendly use by about 2035. However, what we need is in-depth operational transparency of landfills and lithium-ion recyclers globally. This is key to understanding where this sub-industry is headed in this interim period of lull. Perhaps it is just an industry in its infancy experiencing growing pains, or a consequential tanking of net-zero goals as we grapple with issues born from evolving toward a better and cleaner form of mobility.
Regardless, it is quintessential to initiate far-reaching policies about managing and recording the use of black mass powder. How we deal with black mass has a big vote on how well we do in terms of overall net-zero performance through the coming decades.
What is your opinion on this? Leave your comment below.
Additional Insight:
Question: Will my EV catch fire?
Answer: If it is designed to inhibit electrical shorting and the product is rigorously tested, then EVs are less likely to suffer from spontaneous fires than conventional internal combustion vehicles.
Having said that, Lithium-Ion cells burn at 1100 degrees C and an entire battery of them on fire can reach temperatures of 2000 degrees C consuming everything around it. Always buy electric vehicles from certified manufacturers who have roadtested their product locally.
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