In the first episode of Explain Science, I’m joined by Kristin Fransson from RISE to talk about the NoVOC project and the science of life cycle assessment in battery innovation. Kristin explains that NoVOC is working on one very practical challenge: reducing the hazardous solvents used in battery manufacturing and exploring alternative dry and wet production methods that could make battery production more sustainable. From there, we use the project as an entry point into a much bigger discussion about how Europe develops cleaner battery technologies and why environmental thinking has to be built into research projects from the start.
We then unpack what life cycle assessment actually means. Kristin explains how LCA looks across a product’s full life cycle, why it matters for battery research, and why it is so difficult to get right when projects are still working at lab or pilot scale. We talk about methodological choices, data collection, scale-up, recycling assumptions and the challenge of making sure that an innovation that looks promising in one corner does not create problems somewhere else. It’s a very accessible first episode for anyone curious about batteries, sustainability and what science communication can look like when EU-funded research is explained properly.
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