As more renewable energy is developed, energy storage is increasingly important and attractive, especially grid-scale electrical energy storage; hence, finding and implementing cost-effective and sustainable energy storage and conversion systems is vital. Batteries of various types and sizes are considered one of the most suitable approaches to store energy and extensive research exists for different technologies and applications of batteries; however. As more renewable energy is developed, energy storage is increasingly important and attractive, especially grid-scale electrical energy storage; hence, finding and implementing cost-effective and sustainable energy storage and conversion systems is vital. Batteries of various types and sizes are considered one of the most suitable approaches to store energy and extensive research exists for different technologies and applications of batteries; however, environmental impacts of large-scale battery use remain a major challenge that requires further study. In this paper, batteries from various aspects including design features, advantages, disadvantages, and environmental impacts are assessed. This review reaffirms that batteries are efficient, convenient, reliable and easy-to-use energy storage systems (ESSs). It also confirms that battery shelf life and use life are limited; a large amount and wide range of raw materials, including metals and non-metals, are used to produce batteries; and, the battery industry can generate considerable amounts of environmental pollutants (e.g., hazardous waste, greenhouse gas emissions and toxic gases) during different processes such as mining, manufacturing, use, transportation, collection, storage, treatment, disposal and recycling. Battery use at a large scale or grid-scale (>50 MW), which is widely anticipated, will have significant social and environmental impacts; hence, it must be compared carefully with alternatives in terms of sustainability, while focusing on research to quantify ex. ••Review of batteries from various aspects such as design features, advantages, disadvantages, and environmental impacts.••Study of the share of batteries in the use of raw materials and the depletion of natural resources.••Study of the role of batteries in causing the environmental pollutants, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and harmful effects on public health.BESBattery Energy StorageBEVBattery Electric VehicleBITBeijing Institute of TechnologyCAESCompressed Air Energy StorageCTGCradle-To-GateDLCEnergy storageBatteryGreenhouse gas emissionsEnvironmental impactsEnergy underlies the welfare, economics and development state of societies. The dominant primary energy sources are fossil fuels; more specifically, oil, coal and gas, which supply ~85% of mankind's primary energy,. Population growth, industrial development and economic growth lead to increasing energy demand, particularly in emerging large-population economies,,,,,. Growing demand leads to environmental challenges such as global warming and climate change, air pollution health impacts, and risk of soil and water contamination,,,,,. According to Boden and Andres and Heard et al., atmospheric CO2 concentration increased from ~360 ppm to ~400 ppm between 1995 and 2015, and fossil fuel CO2 emissions rose from ~6.4 Gt C yr−1 in 1995 to ~9.8 Gt C yr−1 in 2013. To affect these trends, sustainable carbon-free or low-carbon energy sources (wind, solar, tidal, wave, nuclear, etc.) and energy storage must increase quickly. Large-scale energy storage (>50 MW) is vital to manage daily fluctuating power demands on large grids and to cope with the variable and intermittent nature of renewable sources as they grow to provide large proportions of the energy to grids of all sizes.Energy storage systems (ESSs) can be classified into five major groups,,, :•1.
