Lead battery industry bolsters Europe’s energy security

The contribution of Europe’s strategically autonomous lead battery industry has never been more significant as energy security becomes central to Europe’s economy and defence.

A new report from economics institute EBP sets out the scale and significance of the lead battery value chain in Europe. Lead batteries are critical in a range of industries from vehicles including electric vehicles to renewables energy storage as well as proving back-up for critical data and telecoms systems.

EBP finds in its report that the industry “makes a significant contribution to the continent’s economy” supporting a wide range of sectors. It found that the overall economic impact of the industry is worth EU €14.7 billion of value added or gross domestic product (GDP), supporting more than 184,000 EU jobs. Almost 40% of the industry is made up of small and medium sized companies across the bloc.

The EBP report confirmed that new lead batteries – which are all recycled when collected in Europe – typically include up to 80% recycled content, making them flagship examples of the circular economy.

Commenting on the report, Dr Marc Zoellner, President of Europe’s automotive and industrial battery association EUROBAT said: “The report sets out both the scale and significance of Europe’s lead battery industry – its value to the European economy and its contribution to achieving carbon reduction goals. Above all it is a timely reminder that the EU is a centre of excellence for lead battery technology in manufacturing, innovation and end-of-life recycling and that lead batteries are key enablers for many downstream sectors including transportation, telecommunications, IT and information services.”

The Chairman of the International Lead Association, Florian von Steinkeller, added: “To meet the Green Deal objective of a carbon neutral economy by 2050 the EU will need to be strategically autonomous in making and recycling vast numbers of advanced batteries. We hope that policymakers will continue to see the significant value of such a highly-skilled battery manufacturing and recycling infrastructure that still has a significant role to play in delivering a low carbon future for Europe.”