Abstract:

India's limited reserves of lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese necessitate substantial reliance on imports, often leading to distortions in supply chains within Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies related to domestic lithium-ion battery (LIB) manufacture. This research addresses the deficiency by conducting a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment of NMC811 battery production in India, employing OpenLCA for modeling purposes. Two situations are evaluated: Process A involves the importation of ready-to-use functional materials, while Process B requires the importation of precursors only. Results reveal that the cumulative impacts of climate change range from 95 to 100 kg of CO-equivalent per kilowatt-hour when coal-derived electricity is employed for assembly. The production of cathode materials is the primary contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, at 35%–40% of the total, largely attributable to dependence on coal-intensive electricity. A scenario analysis reveals that shifting to a renewable-dominant electrical mix, as demonstrated by Tamil Nadu, reduces assembly-stage emissions by approximately 49%. Further reductions are achieved by relocating the synthesis of cathode and anode materials to regions with a higher share of renewable energy, so lowering overall emissions from approximately 95.5 to 76.3 kg CO₂-equivalent per kWh—a decrease of 20% to 25%.