Urban Stock-Demography Approach to Uncover Electric Vehicle Battery and Embedded Lithium Stock across 366 Cities in China
Limited primary lithium resources has urged China to expand the secondary sources through recycling lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) to support its electric passenger vehicles (EPVs) ambitions. However, the lack of detailed geographic data complicates lithium stock measurement and hinders efficient recy...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Ecosystem Health and Sustainability |
| Online Access: | https://spj.science.org/doi/10.34133/ehs.0297 |
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| _version_ | 1832589849004081152 |
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| author | Chenyang Wang Peng Wang Linchang Zheng Wei Chen Yuqi Hu Rui Jing Yi Ding Xiaojie Liu Wei-Qiang Chen |
| author_facet | Chenyang Wang Peng Wang Linchang Zheng Wei Chen Yuqi Hu Rui Jing Yi Ding Xiaojie Liu Wei-Qiang Chen |
| author_sort | Chenyang Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Limited primary lithium resources has urged China to expand the secondary sources through recycling lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) to support its electric passenger vehicles (EPVs) ambitions. However, the lack of detailed geographic data complicates lithium stock measurement and hinders efficient recycling efforts. This study integrates urban demography approach into in-use stock analysis to map the spatial–temporal dynamics of lithium stock in EPVs across 366 Chinese cities from 2010 to 2020. The findings show LIB capacity increased from nearly 0 to 125 GWh in 2020 and in-use lithium stock reached 26.6 kilotons—2.4% of China’s total lithium reserves. Regional disparities persist: around 21 very large and super-large cities hold over 58% of total lithium in-use stock, with eastern regions dominating distribution; smaller cities, despite faster growth, maintain a smaller share. Population size, economic activity, and policy incentives emerge as key drivers, with a U-shaped relationship between per-capita lithium stock and newly introduced stock reflecting market saturation in some areas and policy-driven growth in others. Such high-resolution data can help governments and companies design recycling networks tailored to regional needs, promoting operational efficiency and sustainable lithium supply chains. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-73a637d8e3504256970a78ceb7283223 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2332-8878 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecosystem Health and Sustainability |
| spelling | doaj-art-73a637d8e3504256970a78ceb72832232025-01-24T08:00:34ZengAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)Ecosystem Health and Sustainability2332-88782025-01-011110.34133/ehs.0297Urban Stock-Demography Approach to Uncover Electric Vehicle Battery and Embedded Lithium Stock across 366 Cities in ChinaChenyang Wang0Peng Wang1Linchang Zheng2Wei Chen3Yuqi Hu4Rui Jing5Yi Ding6Xiaojie Liu7Wei-Qiang Chen8State Key Laboratory for Ecological Security of Regions and Cities, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China.State Key Laboratory for Ecological Security of Regions and Cities, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China.College of Economics, Hebei University, Baoding, Hebei 071002, China.State Key Laboratory for Ecological Security of Regions and Cities, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China.College of Economics, Hebei University, Baoding, Hebei 071002, China.College of Energy, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361000, China.School of Business, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China.Key Laboratory of Natural Resource Coupling Process and Effects, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.State Key Laboratory for Ecological Security of Regions and Cities, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China.Limited primary lithium resources has urged China to expand the secondary sources through recycling lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) to support its electric passenger vehicles (EPVs) ambitions. However, the lack of detailed geographic data complicates lithium stock measurement and hinders efficient recycling efforts. This study integrates urban demography approach into in-use stock analysis to map the spatial–temporal dynamics of lithium stock in EPVs across 366 Chinese cities from 2010 to 2020. The findings show LIB capacity increased from nearly 0 to 125 GWh in 2020 and in-use lithium stock reached 26.6 kilotons—2.4% of China’s total lithium reserves. Regional disparities persist: around 21 very large and super-large cities hold over 58% of total lithium in-use stock, with eastern regions dominating distribution; smaller cities, despite faster growth, maintain a smaller share. Population size, economic activity, and policy incentives emerge as key drivers, with a U-shaped relationship between per-capita lithium stock and newly introduced stock reflecting market saturation in some areas and policy-driven growth in others. Such high-resolution data can help governments and companies design recycling networks tailored to regional needs, promoting operational efficiency and sustainable lithium supply chains.https://spj.science.org/doi/10.34133/ehs.0297 |
| spellingShingle | Chenyang Wang Peng Wang Linchang Zheng Wei Chen Yuqi Hu Rui Jing Yi Ding Xiaojie Liu Wei-Qiang Chen Urban Stock-Demography Approach to Uncover Electric Vehicle Battery and Embedded Lithium Stock across 366 Cities in China Ecosystem Health and Sustainability |
| title | Urban Stock-Demography Approach to Uncover Electric Vehicle Battery and Embedded Lithium Stock across 366 Cities in China |
| title_full | Urban Stock-Demography Approach to Uncover Electric Vehicle Battery and Embedded Lithium Stock across 366 Cities in China |
| title_fullStr | Urban Stock-Demography Approach to Uncover Electric Vehicle Battery and Embedded Lithium Stock across 366 Cities in China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Urban Stock-Demography Approach to Uncover Electric Vehicle Battery and Embedded Lithium Stock across 366 Cities in China |
| title_short | Urban Stock-Demography Approach to Uncover Electric Vehicle Battery and Embedded Lithium Stock across 366 Cities in China |
| title_sort | urban stock demography approach to uncover electric vehicle battery and embedded lithium stock across 366 cities in china |
| url | https://spj.science.org/doi/10.34133/ehs.0297 |
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