FCAB unveils US national blueprint for lithium batteries.
This National Blueprint for Lithium Batteries, developed by the Federal Consortium for Advanced Batteries will help guide investments to develop a domestic lithium-battery manufacturing value chain that creates equitable clean-energy manufacturing jobs in America while helping to mitigate climate change impacts.
The blueprint lays out five critical goals and key actions to guide federal agency collaboration to secure the nation’s long-term economic competitiveness and create good-paying jobs for American workers, while supporting the Biden Administration’s decarbonization goals.
OVERVIEW
This document outlines a national blueprint to guide investments in the urgent development of a domestic lithium-battery manufacturing value chain that creates equitable clean-energy manufacturing jobs in America, building a clean-energy economy and helping to mitigate climate change impacts. The worldwide lithium-battery market is expected to grow by a factor of 5 to 10 in the next decade.
The U.S. industrial base must be positioned to respond to this vast increase in market demand that otherwise will likely benefit well-resourced and supported competitors in Asia and Europe.
The Federal Consortium for Advanced Batteries (FCAB) is led by the Departments of Energy,
Defense, Commerce, and State and includes many organizations across the government.
FCAB brings together Federal agencies to provide a coordinated approach to ensuring a domestic supply of lithium batteries and accelerating the development of a robust and secure domestic industrial base.
This blueprint details a path to achieving this desired outcome. Strong collaboration with U.S. academic institutions, national laboratories, industrial stakeholders, and international allies is an integral feature of this blueprint.
VISION AND GOALS
Establishing a domestic supply chain for lithium-based batteries requires a national commitment to both solving breakthrough scientific challenges for new materials and
developing a manufacturing base that meets the demands of the growing electric vehicle (EV) and electrical grid storage markets.
As the domestic supply chain develops, efforts are needed to update environmental and labor standards and to ensure equitable development of workforce opportunities including those communities that have been historically underserved. Attainment of the following five goals will position the United States to secure this vision:
GOAL 1 Secure access to raw and refined materials and discover alternatives for
critical minerals for commercial and defense applications
A robust, secure, domestic industrial base for lithium-based batteries requires access to a reliable supply of raw, refined, and processed material inputs along with parallel efforts to
develop substitutes that are sustainable and diversify supply from both secondary and unconventional sources.
The goal is to reduce U.S. lithium-battery manufacturing dependence on scarce materials, especially cobalt and nickel, in order to develop a stronger, more secure and resilient supply chain. Working through ongoing U.S. Government initiatives and with allies to secure reliable domestic and foreign sources for critical minerals3 is as vital as ultimately replacing these materials in the lithium-battery supply chain.
New or expanded production must be held to modern standards for environmental protection, best-practice labor conditions, and rigorous community consultation, including with tribal nations through government-to-government collaboration, while recognizing the economic costs of waste treatment and processing.
GOAL 2 Support the growth of a U.S. materials-processing base able to meet domestic battery manufacturing demand
Today, the U.S. relies on international markets for the processing of most lithium-battery raw materials. The Nation would benefit greatly from development and growth of cost-competitive domestic materials processing for lithium-battery materials. The elimination of critical minerals (such as cobalt and nickel) from lithium batteries, and new processes that decrease the cost of battery materials such as cathodes, anodes, and electrolytes, are key enablers of future growth in the materials-processing industry.
GOAL 3 Stimulate the U.S. electrode, cell, and pack manufacturing sectors
Significant advances in battery energy storage technologies have occurred in the last 10 years, leading to energy density increases and battery pack cost decreases of approximately 85%, reaching $143/kWh in 2020.4 Despite these advances, domestic growth and onshoring of cell and pack manufacturing will require consistent incentives and support for the adoption of EVs.
The U.S. should develop a federal policy framework that supports manufacturing electrodes, cells, and packs domestically and encourages demand growth for lithium-ion batteries. Special attention will be needed to ensure access to clean-energy jobs and a more equitable and durable supply chain that works for all Americans.
In addition, electrode, cell, and pack manufacturing can benefit from further research and development (R&D) in order to reduce costs, improve performance, and support demand growth.
GOAL 4 Enable U.S. end-of-life reuse and critical materials recycling at scale and a full competitive value chain in the United States
Recycling of lithium-ion cells not only mitigates materials scarcity and enhances environmental sustainability, but also supports a more secure and resilient, domestic materials supply chain that is circular in nature. For lithium-ion batteries, several factors create challenges for recycling.
Currently, recyclers face a net end-of-life cost when recycling EV batteries, with costs to transport batteries, which are currently classified as hazardous waste, constituting over
half of the end-of-life recycling costs.
New methods will be developed for successfully collecting, sorting, transporting, and processing recycled lithium-ion battery materials, with a focus on reducing costs. In addition to recycling, a resilient market should be developed for the reuse of battery cells from retired EVs for secondary applications, including grid storage. Second use of battery cells requires proper sorting, testing, and balancing of cell packs.
GOAL 5 Maintain and advance U.S. battery technology leadership by strongly supporting scientific R&D, STEM education, and workforce development
Establishing a competitive and equitable domestic lithium-battery supply chain in an accelerating EV and grid storage market is only one phase of a global surge toward higher
performance and lower costs as part of a new zero-carbon energy economy.
The pipeline of R&D, ranging from new electrode and electrolyte materials for next generation lithium-ion batteries, to advances in solid state batteries, and novel material, electrode, and cell manufacturing methods, remains integral to maintaining U.S. leadership.
The R&D will be supported by strong intellectual property (IP) protection and rapid movement of innovations from lab to market through public-private R&D partnerships like those established in the semiconductor industry. Undertaking R&D requires a highly skilled workforce, which starts with equitable access to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education at all levels.
PATH FORWARD
Advanced batteries are increasingly important for multiple commercial markets, including electric vehicles, stationary storage systems, and aviation, as well as for national defense uses. This document outlines a U.S. national blueprint for lithium-based batteries, developed by FCAB to guide federal investments in the domestic lithium-battery manufacturing value chain that will decarbonize the transportation sector and bring clean-energy manufacturing jobs to America.
CAB brings together federal agencies interested in ensuring a domestic supply of lithium batteries to accelerate the development of a resilient domestic industrial base FCAB is promoting a holistic approach covering the whole lithium-based battery ecosystem, focusing on development of an equitable, sustainable supply chain, from raw-materials
production to end-of-life recycling.
For each stage of the supply chain, this blueprint identifies key actions that federal agencies can take to strengthen and bolster domestic performance, while progressing towards national goals for mitigating climate change and advancing social justice.
Beyond the supply chain, FCAB is working to promote other factors necessary to develop a secure domestic battery ecosystem, including identifying influential federal policies and authorities, enhancing protection of IP and knowledge transfer, accelerating the development of lithium-based battery materials and technologies to maintain U.S. battery technology leadership, and bolstering technology transfer across commercial and defense markets.
To establish a secure battery materials and technology supply chain that supports long-term U.S. economic competitiveness and job creation, enables decarbonization goals, and meets
national security requirements, the FCAB will:
- Secure U.S. access to raw materials for lithium batteries by incentivizing growth in safe, equitable, and sustainable domestic mining ventures while leveraging partnerships with allies and partners to establish a diversified supply.
- Establish a program to increase domestic processing and production of critical battery materials by expanding existing capacity and creating new capacity using existing technology; establish a Research, Development, Demonstration & Deployment (RDD&D)
program to discover and produce alternatives for critical battery materials. - Implement policies and support that enable the expansion of U.S. lithium-battery manufacturing, including electrodes, cell, and pack production to ultimately meet the
future needs of electric and grid storage production as well as security applications. - Establish and support U.S. industry to implement a blueprint that will enable a secure domestic lithiumbattery recycling ecosystem to reduce constraints imposed by materials scarcity, enhance environmental sustainability, and support a U.S.-based circular materials
supply chain. - Support research, development, and demonstration from academic institutions, national laboratories, and U.S.-based industries into all aspects of the lithium-battery supply chain for commercial and defense applications, thus enabling the development and commercialization of revolutionary battery materials and battery technologies
- Support development of a trained battery supply chain workforce that promotes career transition and equitable access through programs in trade schools, community colleges, and public universities.
- Determine new approaches to create and implement public-private partnerships to encourage private investments and ensure alignment with the national blueprint.
National Blueprint for Lithium Batteries, June 7, 2021
