Echion CTO joins advisory board project supporting battery transition
Echion’s Chief Technology Officer and co-founder, Dr Alex Groombridge, has been appointed to the advisory board of the High-Quality Life Cycle Assessment for Battery Industry (HiQ-LCA) sustainability project.
The HiQ-LCA project, which is co-funded by EIT RawMaterials and the European Union, aims to develop and enable more accurate and reliable Life Cycle Assessments (LCA), therefore empowering stakeholders to improve the sustainability of their production and recycling processes. It is made up of representatives from BRGM, CellCircle UG, ecoinvent, European Lithium Institute eLi, eramet, Fraunhofer ISC, Fraunhofer IST, Ghent University, Leiden University, MINVIRO, Northvolt and Université de Bordeaux. Collectively, these organisations span the entire battery manufacturing value chain, or are involved in research and development activities within the battery or raw materials field. They shall provide access to their data sources and work collaboratively to develop new LCA database methodologies and services as part of the project.
As well as the project partners, the HiQ-LCA project has several advisory board members from companies including Echion. Alex joins the board as a battery anode material expert, having been fundamental in the development of Echion’s flagship XNO® technology; a niobium-based anode material that uniquely unlocks ultra-fast charging, high energy density, long cycle life capabilities in lithium-ion batteries for specific use in heavy duty and industrial transport applications.
Reflecting on his appointment, Alex said: “I am delighted to have been appointed to the HiQ-LCA advisory board and look forward to joining the team of renowned experts, all of whom are committed to a greener, more sustainable future. Mass electrification of the mobility sector is crucial to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
“When developing new battery technologies to support this sector, it is vital to consider the environmental impact of the materials used, especially as batteries are one of the largest contributors to an electric vehicle’s environmental footprint. Collaboration across the battery industry is imperative to ensure the battery supply chain can be as sustainable as possible and I look forward to seeing the impact of HiQ-LCA on the European battery supply chain in the coming years.”
Dr. Lígia da Silva Lima, Contributor to the project from the Ghent University STEN Group (Sustainable Systems Engineering Research Group), welcomed the news, saying: “Having the support of advisory board members like Echion, working directly on the supply of battery components and more specifically, novel technologies, will be essential for the quality of the work to be developed in HiQ-LCA. The battery industry has evolved fast. Thus, the project team benefits from having experts in novel and successful technologies in order to provide current and future-oriented data.”