Sodium-ion batteries have a 25% lower carbon footprint than LFP. New research from China.

Chinese researchers have published the latest life cycle assessment of sodium-ion batteries based on layered oxide cathodes in the journal Environmental Impact Assessment Review. Data collected directly from Chinese gigafactories show that producing a sodium-ion battery pack generates 24.9% less carbon dioxide than producing popular lithium iron phosphate cells.

Sodium-ion batteries vs. LFP

The LCA (life cycle assessment), conducted on a cradle-to-gate basis, indicates a clear environmental advantage for the new sodium-ion technology at the battery-pack level:

• Sodium-ion battery pack – 56.8 kg per 1 kWh of capacity.
• Lithium iron phosphate battery pack – 75.5 kg per 1 kWh of capacity.

The total environmental footprint of the sodium-ion pack was 27.3% lower than that of LFP. For both technologies, emissions are still heavily concentrated in the electricity used during production, due to the high share of coal in China’s energy mix. However, the researchers emphasize that the footprint of sodium-ion batteries will continue to decline as manufacturing processes are optimized and the power grid becomes greener, while LFP manufacturers need to focus primarily on substituting less readily available raw materials.

If sodium-ion technology were adopted on a mass scale, the study’s authors estimate that it could help avoid 147 million tonnes of emissions annually by 2035.

What accounts for the difference in results? China vs. Europe

The latest findings from China contradict a European study from 2025, conducted by the Fraunhofer Institute and RWTH Aachen University, which found that sodium-ion batteries had a higher carbon footprint than LFP batteries.

The difference stems from two key factors:

• Battery packs vs. individual cells – the Chinese study assessed complete battery packs, whereas the European study analyzed individual cells.
• Data scale – older and European analyses relied on laboratory data or default European databases, while the latest report is based on real-world operational data from active gigafactories in China.

It is also worth noting that both studies focused exclusively on layered oxide cathodes, used by companies including HiNa Battery, and did not account for cycle life — the number of charge and discharge cycles — over the batteries’ entire service life.