4 ms·
Not mentioned in the article but critically important to humanity's future is phosphorous for fertilizer. Unlike nitrogen, which is extracted from the atmosphe
by i_am_proteus 5y ago
Not mentioned in the article but critically important to humanity's future is phosphorous for fertilizer.
Unlike nitrogen, which is extracted from the atmosphere (presently using a carbon-intensive process, but feasibly using renewables), phosphorous is mined from rock. The only way to recover phosphorous is from human and animal waste. Animal waste is used (sometimes) either via pasturing animals or collecting manure, but human waste is mostly unexploited.
- addaon 5y agoThere's also work on recovering phosphorus from seawater, eg [1], which would be an effectively unlimited source. [1] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2020.115572 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2020.115572