3 ms·
>Healthy soil can be cultivated at scale, so if quality is the top priority that's not an issue. Healthy soil can only be cultivated at scale with the aid of p
by idiotsecant 4y ago
>Healthy soil can be cultivated at scale, so if quality is the top priority that's not an issue.
Healthy soil can only be cultivated at scale with the aid of petrochemical byproduct fertilizers, which are not likely to be a long-term feature of our agricultural system.
- ben_w 4y agoThe petrochemicals can be synthesised from CO2 and water with known methods. While nobody bothers with this right now, SpaceX basically has to make this economical as one sub-goal of their Mars colony, so I expect it in a decade or two, well before we run short of natural petroleum. I’m more concerned with the long-term need to recover the potassium and phosphorus that washes into the ocean, which, despite still being theoretically solvable, is not currently economic enough to bother with even for the gold and uranium that’s also in the seawater.
- wumpus 4y agoCrop rotation doesn't improve the soil at scale?
- pfdietz 4y agoThe fertilizer that is derived from fossil fuels is ammonia (and nitrate made from ammonia by partial oxidation). More precisely, it's made from hydrogen derived from steam reforming of methane. But any source of hydrogen would do, including electrolysis with renewable electricity. There is nothing essential about fossil fuels for industrial agriculture. It should also be noted that the total energy consumed in growing food in the US (ignoring sunlight absorbed by the plants) is less than the energy used to COOK food in the US. It's roughly 1% of the total energy used by the US.