Life cycle analysis of batteries using economic input-output analysis

In previous work, the authors illustrated the use of economic input/output models for environmental assessment of industrial sector outputs and the use of economic input/output models to expand conventional life cycle assessment to obviate problems with analysis boundary assumptions. The economic input/output model represents all the supplier relationships in the supply chain for industrial production. This work has used a 519 sector model of the US economy for the input/output analysis and estimated environmental impacts by specific toxic chemical releases and energy demands estimated for each supplier sector. Application of the EIO environmental assessment model was shown to be feasible, rapid and inexpensive. In this paper, the economic input/output model is augmented by a "sector" representing the inputs and demands for a specific product. In this way, the environmental impacts for a specific product rather than an industrial sector can be assessed directly. An application to the assessment of environmental impacts associated with manufacturing storage batteries is featured. We discuss methods to estimate the required data for product specific applications.