Enhancement of the ESSENZ Method and Application in a Case Study on Batteries

Julia Pelzeter, Vanessa Bach, Martin Henßler, Klaus Ruhland and Matthias Finkbeiner
Additional contact information
Julia Pelzeter: Institute of Environmental Technology, Technische Universität Berlin, Straße Des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany
Vanessa Bach: Institute of Environmental Technology, Technische Universität Berlin, Straße Des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany
Martin Henßler: Sustainability, Group Environmental Protection & Energy Management, Mercedes-Benz AG, 70546 Stuttgart, Germany
Klaus Ruhland: Sustainability, Group Environmental Protection & Energy Management, Mercedes-Benz AG, 70546 Stuttgart, Germany
Matthias Finkbeiner: Institute of Environmental Technology, Technische Universität Berlin, Straße Des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany

Resources, 2022, vol. 11, issue 6, 1-25

Abstract: With a growing awareness of the impact of resource exploitation, issues such as mine site certification and recyclate use in products come to the fore. These aspects are incorporated into the ESSENZ method which assesses resource criticality. Moreover, the method is enhanced by addressing further shortcomings and considering the SCARCE method. The resultant so-called ESSENZ+ method is tested in a case study on batteries involving a data update concerning the characterization factors of eight raw materials. The comparison of the results, using the original ESSENZ versus the updated ESSENZ+ characterization factors, shows significant changes regarding the demand growth (an increase of four times due to the inclusion of future trends) and price fluctuations (an increase of fourteen times due to a data update). The impact of the introduction of the aspects of mine site certification and recyclate use are examined via sensitivity analyses showing a reduced supply risk, yet to different extents in the different categories. A comparison of nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) batteries with different NMC ratios shows a decreasing supply risk per kWh, along with technological advancement, due to lower material requirements and smaller cobalt shares. ESSENZ+ enables users to include relevant developments in their assessment such as increasing mine site certifications and recyclate use.

Keywords: abiotic resources; criticality; supply risk; ESSENZ; SCARCE; mine site certification; recyclates; battery cells (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9276/11/6/52/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9276/11/6/52/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jresou:v:11:y:2022:i:6:p:52-:d:823967

Access Statistics for this article

Resources is currently edited by Ms. Donchian Ma

More articles in Resources from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().