The use of batteries could reduce global emissions in the transport and power sectors by 30% by 2030, the World Economic Forum’s Global Battery Alliance outlines in a new report, titled ‘A Vision for a Sustainable Battery Value Chain in 2030’.

According to the report, this will create about ten-million jobs and add $150-billion to the global economy, while simultaneously providing electricity to 600-million people.

However, in order for that potential to be achieved, the metals and mining sector will have a prominent role to play, be that through the responsible provision of key materials, the creation of safe and sustainable jobs and measures taken to benefit the environment and eliminate child and forced labour. 

Commenting on the publication of the announcement, WEF Global Battery Alliance co-chair Benedikt Sobotka, who is also the CEO of Eurasian Resources Group, says the “vast potential of the global battery sector transcends boundaries across economies, industries and geographies”.

Harnessed appropriately, he adds that it may help meet the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 2 °C above pre-industrial levels, while creating millions of safe jobs, alleviating poverty and tackling ethical issues in the most vulnerable communities.

“This opportunity should be seized upon but, as this landmark report highlights, it is only through coordinated, collaborative action that we can achieve our collective global sustainability ambitions,” Sobotka says.

In support of this agenda, the report presents a vision of a circular, responsible and just battery value chain as one of the major near-term drivers to realise the Paris Agreement goals for the transport and power sectors, if complemented with other technologies and collaborative efforts.

With the right conditions in place, the report states that batteries are a systemic enabler of a major shift to bring transportation and power to greenhouse-gas neutrality by coupling both sectors for the first time in history and transforming renewable energy from an alternative source, to a reliable base.

According to the report, batteries can also ensure carbon emissions in the transport and power sectors are reduced by 30%.

The report provides a foundation for a vision of how batteries can contribute to sustainable development and climate change mitigation over the coming decade.

The analysis also underscores that this opportunity can only be achieved sustainably through a systemic approach across social, environmental and economic dimensions.

“The vision and its positive impacts will not be realised if the value chain develops along its current trajectory,” the report says, adding that “the time to pivot is now” as the remaining carbon budget is running out.

Without batteries, this budget will be used up by 2035, the report states.

Batteries are the major near-term driver of this pivot, the report notes, pointing out that automotive original-equipment manufacturers are expected to launch more than 300 electric vehicle models in the next five years.

Cost efficient and sustainable batteries, as well as a supporting ecosystem for battery-enabled dispatchable renewable energy deployment, and a dense charging infrastructure network are preconditions for broad customer acceptance and an economically viable powertrain transition, the report highlights.

Eventually, further complementary technologies – such as fuel cells – must be integrated into the transport and power sectors to stay on track to meet the Paris Agreement, according to the report.

Although batteries are required to help tackle climate change, the report reiterates that this “cannot be achieved without a fundamental change” in the way materials are sourced, predominantly done through mining, and how this technology is produced and used.

These challenges can only be addressed through collaborative efforts along the value chain, the report states.

The Global Battery Alliance seeks to offer a platform to enable this collaboration.