GBA said the passport establishes a "digital twin" of a physical battery that conveys information about its manufacturing process and material provenance.
"Batteries are the key to unlocking the energy transition. At the same time, batteries are material- and resource-intensive with inevitable social and environmental impacts throughout the value chain", said the NGO.
The passport, for instance, tracks greenhouse gas emissions during material sourcing, processing and manufacturing of batteries and issues of child labour and human rights violations.
Publicly available on the Global Battery Alliance's website, the prototype battery passports include example data from Audi and Tesla and their value chains partners relating to the battery's technical specifications, material provenance, and reporting against key sustainability performance indicators.
"Tesla piloted the Battery Passport and collected the relevant environmental and social data points on our cobalt supply chain. While a lot more work needs to be done to cover all relevant areas across battery mineral supply chains, standard reporting across a level playing field certainly has a role to play in the transition towards sustainable energy," said Ferdinand Maubrey, head of responsible sourcing, Battery Supply Chain & Battery Minerals, Tesla.
GBA's members include Audi, BASF, CATL, Eurasian Resources Group, Glencore, and LG Energy Solution, among others.
"It [the passport] will bring new levels of transparency to the global battery value chain by collecting, exchanging, collating and reporting trusted data among all lifecycle stakeholders on the material provenance, the battery's chemical make-up and manufacturing history and its sustainability performance," said GBA.
Supply chain consultants RCS Global and Re|Source also noted on Wednesday that they collaborated with Samsung SDI and major lithium players on the pilot.
To deliver the pilot, RCS Global and Re|Source partners (Glencore, ERG and CMOC) worked jointly with partners Albemarle, KCC, Metalkol, Samsung SDI, Umicore and other companies at each stage of both a cobalt and lithium supply chain.
RCS Global said it also is launching Claritas, which it described as a "complete Battery Passport solution that will enable stakeholders of the automotive, energy and battery industries to meet the EU Battery Regulations".
