Extended life cycle assessment reveals the spatially-explicit water scarcity footprint of a lithium-ion battery storage

The life cycle water scarcity footprint is a tool to evaluate anthropogenic contributions to regional water scarcity along global supply chains. Here, we complement it by a classification of the risk from human water use, a comprehensive conceptualisation of water use and a spatially-explicit impact assessment to a midpoint approach that assesses the risk of on-site and remote freshwater scarcity. For a 2 MWh Lithium-ion battery storage, the quantitative Water Scarcity Footprint, comprising physically used water, accounts for 33,155 regionally weighted m(3) with highest contributions from Chilean lithium mining. The qualitative Water Scarcity Footprint, the virtual volume required to dilute pollutant emissions to safe concentrations, is approximately determined to 52 million m(3) of regionally weighted demineralised water with highest contributions from copper and aluminium mining operations. As mining operations seem to have the highest impact, we recommend to consider the spatially-explicit water scarcity footprint for assessment of global material supply. Hotspots of critical water usage along the global supply chain for a lithium-ion battery storage are mainly associated with mining activities, for example of lithium, aluminium and copper, according to a spatially explicit life cycle impact assessment.

Automated summary

The study assessed the water scarcity footprint of mining activities along the global supply chain, revealing the highest contributions to water scarcity from lithium mining in Chile. It also recommended considering the water scarcity life cycle footprint for global material supply assessments.