Pascal Da Costa

Is Electric Vehicles Battery Recovery a Source of Cost or Profit

The lithium-ion battery technology as the today’s best available technology is a key in accompanying vehicles electrification. Its end-of-life recovery is lever in overcoming technical challenges towards electromobility deployment, such as battery cost, environmental impact, the availability of constituent materials and the mandatory recycling rate. In this chapter, we focus on economic aspects, in order to assess the end-of-life recovery impact: we analyze the end-of-life cost evolution of lithium-ion batteries to determine whether it will be a source of cost or profit for car manufacturers. We define and analyze two recovery options: on the one hand, simply recycling which is mandatory by regulation and, on the other hand, repurposing for reuse in many second life applications (from residence related applications to energy storage and grid stabilization). To account for the complexity and the long-term horizon of our study (2030), we combine the use of System Dynamics with the Stanford Research Institute Matrix for building scenarios that mix relevant factors such as the electric vehicle market and the proportion of repurposing for reuse. Finally we show that repurposing could lower the battery’s initial cost—under certain conditions regarding the future battery price and the repurposing cost—where recycling might increase it.

A prospective analysis of CO2 emissions for electric vehicles and the energy sectors in China, France and the US, 2010-2050

Within the landscape of global warming and energy transition, many countries have announced nationally aligned contributions in reducing their CO2 emissions (COP21 and 22, in 2015 and 2016 respectively). With the aim of evaluating the maturing and the success of these targets, technology roadmaps are necessary and serve a twofold function in the evaluative process. They serve as points of comparisons between each other and they are yardsticks by which to measure change for the 2050 horizon.

Introduction: Reframing the Notion of Sustainable Economy Through Perspectives on Limits, Tensions and Paradoxes Within the System

The ambition of the book is first to clarify the concepts of sustainability or sustainable economy, to study their most diverse fields of application, and then to display their limits and highlight the very many tensions that exist between them.

The Paradoxes of the European Energy Market Regulation: A Historical and Structural Analysis of the Electricity Mix

The aim of the Chap. 2 is to understand how the drivers of investment decisions in electricity production have evolved over time-from 1945 to the present day, in the specific context of Europe facing wars and conflicts, scientific and technological progress, all within environments undergoing strong political and academic developments.