Hylist

Acronym: Hylist 
Title: Hybrid Lithium Metal-based Scalable Solid State Battery Manufacturing

What is Hylist, and why is it important?
The European battery industry is looking to decrease its supply chain dependency from Asia.  
More production facilities become active and Solid-State Batteries (SSBs) hold great market potential over conventional lithium-ion batteries (LiBs) thus being pivotal in achieving net zero commitments through electrified transportation.

The increased adoption of battery systems across various industries as an attempt at decarbonization is undoubtedly reshaping economic dynamics within the production network. This shift raises multiple areas of public and policy concern, including issues such as the availability of critical raw materials like lithium, nickel, and cobalt and production bottlenecks in lithium-ion battery manufacturing. Additionally, the transformation is impacting regional development opportunities linked to mining, cathode production, and cell assembly while also influencing the geopolitics of supply competition and control.

The Consortium of HyLiST will start by developing battery components that are optimized to obtain high-performance lab-scale devices and then further scale up to industrially relevant prototypes.

How does this project perfectly fit in the European Green Deal? 
The European Green Deal, initiated by the European Commission in December 2019, is striving to make Europe the world's first climate-neutral continent by eliminating net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 while maintaining economic growth.

The GHG emissions associated with battery production and chemistry undertake an emission value of 60 kg CO2eq/kWh for battery production in 2021. This value is projected to decrease by 20% every 10 years due to improved manufacturing processes and greater use of renewable energy sources.  HyLiST SSB will enable the spreading of zero-emission flights by satisfying aeronautic battery requirements that are more stringent than those for electric vehicles (EVs) with safety being key and demanding for high energy and power capabilities combined with long cycle life under harsh environmental conditions and continuous fast-charging. 
 

Why is it important for VUB?
From an engineering point of view: the research group EVERGi of the VUB has more than 15 years of experience in sustainability evaluation and has built software packages and databases to conduct Life Cycle Assessments of products and processes. This expertise will be used in the project to gain knowledge in the sustainability aspects of solid-state batteries from a full life cycle perspective, including, mining, manufacturing, usage and the end of life treatment. The early-stage insights from the sustainability assessment will be used by the other project partners to environmentally optimize the battery during the design phase.

Based on the battery regulation and VUB's experience with the sustainability of batteries, recommendations will be formulated right from the start. The environmental impacts of the materials will also be optimized, and regular feedback will be provided in an eco-design framework. 
The recyclability and potential for second-life application will also be assessed. Finally, a centralized interface will be created to collect all data relevant to the Battery Passport. The VUB will also provide a carbon footprint of the battery manufacturing needed to comply with the Battery Passport.

From a social point of view: the VUB will also perform a ‘Social Assessment’. This subtask will evaluate the social impacts based on the requirements of the battery regulation: human rights, labour rights, and industrial relations, including occupational health and safety, child labour, forced labour, discrimination, trade union freedoms, and community life, including that of Indigenous peoples.