A UK foresight study of materials in decarbonisation technologies : the case of batteries

Batteries are an important enabler for the electrification transition. A battery is a device that produces electrical energy from the conversion of chemical energy (European Union, 2023). They may be non-rechargeable (primary batteries) or rechargeable (secondary batteries or battery accumulators). They are used in numerous applications, such as portable electronic devices, electric vehicles (EVs), medical equipment and power tools. Many types of battery cell are currently used in rechargeable and non-rechargeable batteries according to the specific application (European Union, 2023, Recharge, 2024). Each is manufactured from a range of raw materials. This study deals only with rechargeable batteries.