The PFAS ban and its con­se­quen­ces for the energy sto­rage indus­try

What are PFAS?

PFAS are a group of che­mi­cal sub­s­tances that are often refer­red to as “eter­nity che­mi­cals” due to their ther­mal and che­mi­cal sta­bi­lity and are cha­rac­te­ri­sed by their water and oil repel­ling pro­per­ties. They are under sus­pi­cion of being health harmful. Addi­tio­nally, emis­si­ons occur during the manu­fac­tu­ring, use, wear and tear, and dis­po­sal of pro­ducts. The Euro­pean Che­mi­cals Agency (ECHA) is the­r­e­fore aiming for a gene­ral ban on this group of sub­s­tances.

Cur­rent sta­tus of the dis­cus­sion

The pro­po­sal paper for a ban on PFASs, “PRO­PO­SAL FOR A REST­RIC­TION of Per- and poly­fluo­ro­al­kyl sub­s­tances (PFASs)”, was draf­ted in coope­ra­tion with aut­ho­ri­ties from Ger­many, the Net­her­lands, Den­mark, Nor­way and Swe­den. Alt­hough it con­ta­ins an assess­ment of the impact of a ban on various indus­tries, it is appa­rent that in the energy sec­tor the tech­ni­cal impact assess­ment is still ina­de­quate.

Recom­men­da­ti­ons from the BVES

BVES places the hig­hest prio­rity on pro­tec­ting peo­ple and the envi­ron­ment from harmful sub­s­tances and gene­rally wel­co­mes the repla­ce­ment of PFAS com­pounds with safe alter­na­ti­ves. Howe­ver, it will take seve­ral more years in the energy sto­rage sec­tor until tech­ni­cally via­ble and mar­ket-ready alter­na­ti­ves are available for all appli­ca­ti­ons.

Given the essen­tial role of energy sto­rage in the energy sys­tem, we must carefully weigh the socioe­co­no­mic costs of the lack of alter­na­ti­ves against the risks of con­tin­ued use. Other­wise, Ger­many and the EU risk losing access to cru­cial tech­no­lo­gies and pro­ducts, such as effi­ci­ent bat­tery cells.

The BVES advo­ca­tes for an indus­try-wide dia­lo­gue, inclu­ding lea­ding insti­tu­ti­ons in rese­arch and deve­lo­p­ment. Tog­e­ther, we can estab­lish a solid infor­ma­tion basis to make rea­li­stic assess­ments and ensure that Europe does not lose access to these inno­va­tive tech­no­lo­gies. This is vital for the estab­lish­ment of a cli­mate-neu­tral and relia­ble energy sys­tem.