Our EWC seminar on this Friday, Apr 27, will feature our own Dr. Jeremiah Johnson, who will discuss: “Life Cycle Environmental Impacts of Lithium Ion Batteries when Used for Power Systems Reserves.” An abstract and bio are included below. Please join us in Mann 304 from 12:50-1:40pm.

Abstract: Battery storage systems are attractive alternatives to conventional generators for frequency regulation, due to their fast response time, high cycle efficiency, flexible scale, and decreasing cost. However, their implementation does not consistently reduce environmental impacts. In order to assess these impacts, we employ a life cycle assessment (LCA) framework. Our framework couples cradle-to-gate and end-of-life LCA data on lithium ion batteries with a unit commitment and dispatch model. The model is run on a 9-bus power system with energy storage used for frequency regulation. The addition of energy storage changes generator commitment and dispatch causing changes in the quantities of each fuel type consumed. This results in increased environmental impacts in most scenarios. The impacts caused by the changes in the power system operation (i.e., use-phase impacts), outweigh upstream and end-of-life impacts in the majority of scenarios analyzed with the magnitude most influenced by electricity mix and fuel price. Of parameters specific to the battery, round trip efficiency has the greatest effect.

Bio: Jeremiah Johnson is an associate professor at North Carolina State University’s Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering and part of the Chancellor’s Faculty Excellence Program in Sustainable Energy Systems and Policy. His research uses systems methods to evaluate the environmental impacts of changes to the power system, including those driven by technology (such as the integration of wind power, solar photovoltaics, and energy storage) and policy. Dr. Johnson teaches courses related to sustainable engineering, life cycle assessment, and energy systems analysis. He earned degrees in environmental engineering from Yale University (PhD, MS) and in chemical engineering from Clarkson University (BS). In addition to his time in academia, Dr. Johnson spent several years as a management consultant advising electric utilities on renewable energy strategy and environmental compliance.