rate (82% in September; up from 77% in June), indicating a promising way forward for the most at-risk population. Each state health department has a tailored plan for vaccination rollout in the U.S. Currently, the three vaccines authorized and recommended to prevent COVID-19 by the CDC are Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen COVID-19 vaccine. Source: Long Island University Steven S. Hornstein Center for Policy, Polling and Analysis
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The Paradox tice,” Linda L. Gaines, of Argonne National Laboratory, said in an interview with C&EN. The reasons include things like technical constraints, economic barriers, logistic issues and regulatory gaps, to name but a few. At present, most suppliers and their clients are currently focusing on improving the battery’s lifespan and efficiency and lower their costs rather than seriously focusing on recycling them at the end of their lives. The most common method of recycling the batteries is to melt spent batteries at high temperatures to recover the precious metals within them. This takes a lot of energy and is actually more expensive than extracting and refining new materials from raw sources. Research is ongoing, but most efforts are still small-scale projects conducted by independent research groups or startups. However, some government initiatives have also
been launched to attempt to stem the growing tide of used batteries. For example, in January 2019, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) launched the country’s first Li-ion battery recycling R&D center, the ReCell Center. The idea is to help make battery recycling profitable and allow the U.S. to become self-sufficient in battery resources it lacks, like cobalt. The U.S. DOE has also launched a $5.5 million Battery Recycling Prize to help encourage the free market to find innovative solutions for the collection, storage and recycling of spent batteries. Across the pond, in the UK, a group of researchers from various universities has also created a consortium to achieve a similar goal. Called the Reuse and Recycling of Lithium-Ion Batteries project, it brings together 50 scientists and engineers from eight institutions and 14 industry partners. What can be done to make EVs truly “green”? So, given the very real environmental impacts EVs have on the planet, what can be done to make
them truly “green”? Here are some examples. 1. Dispense with Li-ion batteries altogether Since EV batteries are hazardous to the environment, from cradle to grave, the most logical step to take would be to stop using them altogether. However, this is a lot harder than it sounds. There are, after all, good reasons why Li-ion batteries have become so ubiquitous (as we detailed earlier). That being said, there are some potential avenues to explore. One example is the salt-based batteries currently under development through a collaboration between the University of Nottingham and six research institutes across China. By combining the performance of oxide fuel with metal-air batteries, these batteries could prove to be a viable replacement for Liion batteries. The best part? These batteries would be fully recyclable, affordable, safe and, in theory, “green.” Other interesting examples include titanium-nitride batteries or using the “wonder material” graphene.
autobodynews.com / OCTOBER 2021 AUTOBODY NEWS 25
