|
News from the world of stones
|
| Curiosità | Eventi | Current events | |
  |
Peak Phosphorus, is the sequel to Peak Oil?April 30, 2010 | Current events |Phosphorus is essential for all living matter, including bacteria, plants and animals. We get our phosphorus from the food we eat, which in turn comes from the phosphate fertilizers we apply to crops. P fertilizer is essential for modern food production and is the limiting factor in crop yields. P is a critical global resource, along side water and energy resources. The majority of the world's agricultural fields today rely on fertilizers derived from inorganic minerals, such as phosphate rock. Phosphate rock is a non-renewable resource that takes 10-15 million years to form from seabed to uplift and weathering, and current known reserves are likely to be depleted in 50-100 years. Phosphate rock reserves are highly geographically concentrated, and thus only exist under control of a small number of countries, including China, Morocco (who controls Western Sahara's reserves), and the US. Read more, Global Phosphorus Research Initiative (GPRI) |
