Read the full case study here.
As of 2027, the European Union will mandate that companies introducing batteries into the European market include a digital battery passport for each battery that proves sustainable, responsible, and circular sourcing. The new regulation concerns all electric vehicle (EV) batteries, light means of transport (LMT) batteries, and industrial batteries with a capacity over 2kWh. Other countries and economic regions are already following suit.
However, bringing ethically and sustainably sourced batteries to the consumer marketplace isn’t simple. Manufacturers face a host of challenges along the supply chain.
Many mines may not use technologies that enable streamlined tracing. Paper records are easily altered and tough to authenticate, so verification of information is a lengthier process with more room for error or fraud. In addition, some suppliers may be hesitant to publicly share all the information out of concern for revealing too much about practices to their competition. Therefore, it’s key that this is done digitally and securely through industrial IoT applications – leaving no room for human error or manipulation.
Without detailed digitization and robust security, someone could easily alter material records. It’s also possible for the materials themselves to be altered, potentially compromising quality or quantity and introducing risk for manufacturers.
Since its launch in 2018, Circulor’s materials traceability solution has enabled manufacturers to track critical minerals and carbon emissions across 30 global supply chains. Now, Circulor has introduced a battery passport that collates, stores, and displays relevant information about a battery’s entire life cycle.
An extension of Circulor’s Hyperledger Fabric-based platform, the battery passport goes beyond manufacturing and tracks batteries through life cycles across the value chain—all the way to second life and eventually recycling. It gives manufacturers and material providers a cost effective and secure way to ensure that all batteries entering the European market come from ethical sources and adhere to sustainability and responsibility guidelines required by the recently passed EU Battery Regulation.
As the most mature battery traceability platform on the market, Circulor has the largest network of battery suppliers and value chain participants on its platform, including OEMs (such as Volvo Cars, Polestar, Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW), midstream producers, miners, and recyclers. And because many manufacturers use the same suppliers, onboarding and adoption become more and more streamlined as the Circulor platform grows further.
The Hyperledger Foundation team worked with Circulor on a case study detailing the growth of the Circulor platform and addition of the battery passport solution. It explains the value chain from mine to manufacturer and onto second life and recycling as well as why and how a Hyperleger Fabric-based platform ensures end-to-end traceability. It also looks ahead to the expanding role of digital products passports and their impact not only compliance but on managing supply chain risk, understanding carbon emissions for targeted decarbonization strategies, and improving customer relations.
Read the full case study here.
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To learn more about Circulor’s Battery Pass solution, register to attend or join the livestream of Coenraad van Deventer’s talk at Open Source Summit Europe on Wednesday, September 20: Illuminating Global Electric Vehicle Battery Supply Chains using Hyperledger Fabric
He will also be part of a panel discussion on Open Source Enterprise Blockchain Traction in Europe that will also include Jesús Ruiz, Alastria Blockchain Ecosystem; Vanessa Santos, Fujitsu; and Hart Montgomery, Hyperledger Foundation