Developments in lead-acid batteries: a lead producer's perspective

Rapid progress is being made in many aspects of materials, design and construction for lead-acid batteries. Much of this work has taken place under the auspices of the Advanced Lead-Acid Battery Consortium (ALABC). From the general tone of the literature, it seems Likely that several of these developments will be adopted in commercial products, and that there will be cross-fertilization between the emerging electric vehicle (EV) battery technology and the starting, lighting and ignition (SLI) battery. Given the impetus for improvement from several different factors, the development process appears to be accelerating. To those not intimately involved in the battery design and specification process, it is not clear which of the possible developments will make it from the laboratory to general commercial adoption. Some of the possible changes in materials, design and construction could have an impact on the recovery, recycling, smelting and refining of lead-acid batteries. Some of the possible developments are outlined and their possible impact is discussed. It is likely that negative effects may be minimized if battery developments are considered from other perspectives, largely based on the overall life-cycle, as early in the design phase of new products as possible. Three strategies for minimizing undesirable effects are advocated: first, improved communication between car manufacturers, battery manufacturers and lead producers second, use of life-cycle analysis (LCA) to identify and optimize all attributes of the product throughout its life-cycle third, concerted and coordinated action to deal with issues important to the industry once trends are identified. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.