Information about the potential environmental impacts of  post-lithium batteries is scarce. For this reason, this work provides a prospective life-cycle assessment of a hypothetical commercial MgS battery based on primary information obtained for a prototype cell. The Mg-S battery is found to have a good environmental performance with potential to outperform also current lithium-ion batteries in terms of environmental impacts. However, this applies only if the assumed evolutions of the cell composition are achieved together with comparable performance in terms of battery lifespan. The initial (non-optimized ) prototype cell cannot compete with current LIB in terms of energy density or environmental friendliness , mainly due to the high share of non-active components, decreasing its performance substantially. The use of exclusively abundant materials with comparably low environmental impacts within the cell is the major strength of the  MgS battery , leaving the energy-intensive process steps as the remaining critical contributors to the total environmental impacts i.e., the cell manufacturing and magnesium and aluminium metal production. Here, the use of renewable electricity and non-fossil sources for process heat are the keys for further improving its environmental performance .
As environmental concerns mostly drive the electrification of our economy and the corresponding increase in demand for battery storage systems, information about the potential environmental impacts of the different battery systems is required. However, this kind of information is scarce for emerging post-lithium systems such as the magnesium-sulfur (MgS) battery. Therefore, we use life cycle assessment following a cradle-to-gate perspective to quantify the cumulative energy demand and potential environmental impacts per Wh of the storage capacity of a hypothetical MgS battery (46 Wh/kg). Furthermore, we also estimate global warming potential (0.33 kg CO2 eq/Wh) , fossil depletion potential (0.09 kg oil eq / Wh), ozone depletion potential (2.5E-08 kg CFC-11/Wh) and metal depletion potential (0.044 kg Fe eq/Wh), associated with the MgS battery production. The battery is modelled based on an existing prototype MgS pouch cell and hypothetically optimised according to the current state of the art in lithium-ion batteries (LIB), exploring future improvement potentials. It turns out that the initial (non-optimised ) prototype cell cannot compete with current LIB in terms of energy density or environmental performance , mainly due to the high share of non-active components, decreasing its performance substantially. Therefore, if the assumed evolutions of the MgS cell composition are achieved to overcome current design hurdles and reach a comparable lifespan, efficiency, cost and safety levels to that of existing LIB; then the MgS battery has significant potential to outperform both existing LIB, and lithium-sulfur batteries .
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Information
As environmental concerns mostly drive the electrification of our economy and the corresponding increase in demand for battery storage systems, information
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the different battery systems is required. However, this kind of information is scarce for emerging
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batteries is scarce. For this reason, this work provides a prospective life-cycle assessment of a hypothetical commercial MgS battery based on primary information obtained for a prototype cell. The Mg-S battery is found to have a good environmental performance with potential to outperform also current
systems such as the magnesium-sulfur (MgS) battery. Therefore, we use life cycle assessment following a cradle-to-gate perspective to quantify the cumulative energy demand and potential environmental impacts per Wh of the storage capacity of a hypothetical MgS battery (46 Wh/kg). Furthermore, we also estimate global warming potential (0.33 kg CO2 eq/Wh) , fossil depletion potential (0.09 kg oil eq / Wh), ozone depletion potential (2.5E-08 kg CFC-11/Wh) and metal depletion potential (0.044 kg Fe eq/Wh), associated with the MgS battery production. The battery is modelled based on an existing prototype MgS pouch cell and hypothetically optimised according to the current state of the art in
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batteries in terms of environmental impacts. However, this applies only if the assumed evolutions of the cell composition are achieved together with comparable performance in terms of battery lifespan. The initial (non-optimized
batteries (LIB), exploring future improvement potentials. It turns out that the initial (non-optimised
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friendliness
performance
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The use of exclusively abundant materials with comparably low environmental impacts within the cell is the major strength of
Therefore, if the assumed evolutions of
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MgS cell composition are achieved to overcome current design hurdles and reach a comparable lifespan, efficiency, cost and safety levels to that of existing LIB; then the
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, leaving the energy-intensive process steps as the remaining critical contributors to the total environmental impacts i.e., the cell manufacturing and magnesium and aluminium metal production. Here, the use of renewable electricity and non-fossil sources for process heat are the keys for further improving its environmental performance
has significant potential to outperform both existing LIB, and lithium-sulfur batteries