Life-cycle environmental comparison of primary and secondary batteries

Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is used to improve the environmental performance of products over their entire life, and LCA methods are in a constant state of evolution. A quantitative model for product analysis has been developed at Carnegie Mellon. The model is based on economic input-output life-cycle analysis (EIO-LCA), a tool that allows a user to quantify direct and indirect relationships among industry sectors and associated environmental burdens during the manufacturing stage of a product. However, to study environmental effects over a product's entire life, use and end-of-life impacts must also be quantified. This paper presents a hybrid LCA approach to product environmental assessment in which both EIO-LCA and a conventional LCA approach are applied to comparing the total environmental impacts of primary and rechargeable batteries. We find that through the manufacturing stage, the environmental impact of primary batteries is greater than that of storage batteries. Resource use and associated impacts after manufacturing can be partially quantified at present.