The Global Battery Alliance (GBA) has published a Greenhouse Gas Rulebook on lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles. This framework provides consumers and manufacturers of electric vehicles with access to a wide range of information on the manufacturing and environmental social governance (ESG) performance of the battery. The data collected will form the basis for the future GBA battery passport.

Consumers are increasingly choosing to buy electric vehicles. Therefore, the need for transparency on the global battery market and its impact on the environment is increasing. With the GBA Battery Passport, the Multi-Stakeholder Partnership (MSP) GBA makes this transparency possible in the future. The Battery Passport is a digital twin of the physical battery and collects various data on ESG indicators as well as on the life cycle based on a unified definition of sustainability for batteries. Thus, the MSP aims to introduce international standards for sustainable battery value chains.

To achieve such standards, the GBA has published the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Rulebook, which is the first quantitative performance indicator for lithium-ion batteries. The Rulebook provides a uniform method by which data can be collected in a homogeneous manner. Thus, the greenhouse gas footprint of suppliers in the value chain can be compared. In addition, end users and manufacturers can access information on the material origin, chemical composition and manufacturing history of the battery. Thus, the market becomes more transparent and the requirements for compliant manufacturing higher, contributing to more sustainable and responsible battery value chains worldwide.

Everledger, one of the companies that developed the GHG Rulebook with the GBA, is now piloting this with automaker Ford over six months to finalize the data collection methodology and the framework. Once the trial phase is complete, the GBA battery passport will be rolled out publicly. In addition, the GBA would like to further refine the passport in the future and ultimately treat it as an international standardized seal.