Battery passports are emerging as essential tools for the battery industry, designed to track and verify materials across complex supply chains, offering detailed insight into the origins, environmental impact, and lifecycle of batteries. Launched by The Global Battery Alliance (GBA) in January 2023, the first battery passport proof of concept provided a foundational framework to enhance transparency, which has now evolved through the 2024 pilot program. With seven materials tracked—lithium, artificial graphite, aluminum, cobalt, copper, iron phosphate, and nickel—this latest wave of pilots is aligned with environmental regulations and international standards, contributing to robust frameworks around greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity, and circular design.
GBA just unveiled the results of its 2024 Battery Passport pilot programs, marking a substantial advancement in the journey toward a sustainable, transparent, and traceable battery industry. During the Annual General Meeting held in Shanghai and Ningde, GBA announced that ten consortia, led by prominent battery manufacturers, have completed a major pre-competitive initiative to develop harmonized battery passports. CATL led two significant pilot projects focused on its Shenxing and CTP batteries, demonstrating substantial progress toward environmental responsibility and transparent value chains.
The future of sustainability in the battery industry
In an interview with Kevin Krolicki from Reuters, CATL CEO Robin Zeng discussed the company’s involvement in the GBA’s Battery Passport pilot program and its role in fostering a sustainable battery industry. Zeng emphasized that CATL’s commitment to sustainability has been core since the company’s founding, noting, “When we start the business for the EV battery or energy storage battery, we think about how to help this circular economic sustainability.” He stressed that traceability is key, explaining that the Battery Passport allows consumers and stakeholders to understand the environmental impact of each battery component, from mining to assembly: “The traceability is another one. Now, how to trace that? A battery passport definitely fits. So you can tell the battery story.”
Discussing the business case for sustainability, Zeng emphasized that high-quality batteries with long life cycles offer financial benefits by reducing total ownership costs and supporting green energy initiatives. He shared CATL’s commitment to sustainable mining, highlighting a collaboration with African mines to establish renewable-powered microgrids: “We make what we call micro-grid… that can support almost 365 days.” This approach, Zeng stated, could serve as a model for reducing emissions in mining.
When addressing cost competitiveness, Zeng remarked, “Now you see our technology can be as cheap or as low cost as Chinese electricity fee, because we can bring both good technology and clean technology.” He called for support from global financial institutions, saying, “I really want to urge organizations like the World Bank to give us some incentives about these green bonds or whatever… we can probably bring another level of sustainability growth for the GBA’s project.”
As battery passports gain wider adoption, they promise to bridge regulatory gaps and set unified standards, driving significant advancements in transparency and accountability across the global battery industry. This collaborative effort could mark a pivotal step toward a sustainable future, transforming battery manufacturing into a model for environmental stewardship.