On the history of a reoccurring concept: Phosphorus scarcity

Ulrich, Andrea E.; Frossard, Emmanuel

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.04.050

Cited by 91 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Apart from the European Commission, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and McKinsey in cooperation with the Stiftungsfonds für Umweltökonomie und Nachhaltigkeit have investigated the potentials of a transition towards a Circular Economy and have published a few studies, the most prominent being "Growth within: A circular economy vision for a competitive Europe". [8] In this report, a Circular Economy, defined as an economy providing added value without consuming primary resources and based on the principles of: (1) preservation of natural capital; (2) optimization of resource yields by circulating materials and products; and (3) avoiding externalities, i.e., negative impacts on air, soil and water as well as on animal and human life. The authors claim additional benefits (largely savings) of up to €1.8 trillion per year and additional 7% GDP growth by 2030 in three systems, mobility, food and housing (60% of expenses of EU households and 80% of resource use), if circular principles were applied to the European economy.…”

Section: Circular Economymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Planetary boundaries and areas where the safe operation space has been transgressed are shown in Figure 4. Apart from the European Commission, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and McKinsey in cooperation with the Stiftungsfonds für Umweltökonomie und Nachhaltigkeit have investigated the potentials of a transition towards a Circular Economy and have published a few studies, the most prominent being "Growth within: A circular economy vision for a competitive Europe" [8]. In this report, a Circular Economy, defined as an economy providing added value without consuming primary resources and based on the principles of: (1) preservation of natural capital; (2) optimization of resource yields by circulating materials and products; and (3) avoiding externalities, i.e., negative impacts on air, soil and water as well as on animal and human life.…”

Section: Circular Economymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The availability of resources in general and phosphorus in particular has been controversially discussed repeatedly since scarcity of resources was first addressed 1798 by Thomas Robert Malthus writing about the limits to growth of mankind by scarce resources [8]. The term Super Phosphate was introduced 1797 by the British physician George Pearson describing Calcium Di-Hydrogenphosphate …”

Section: Why Phosphorus-historic Development and Scarcity Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The rapid growth of world demand in the 1850s severely depleted the known resources of phosphates-bones, coprolites and guano-prompting Liebig to express his concern that the excessive import of bones by England would not allow other countries a sufficient supply of fertilizers for maintaining soil-fertility. From 1855, Peruvian Guano sustained much of the global phosphate needs before resources were exhausted by the end of the 1870s [8]. During that period, Liebig's perception of a forthcoming scarcity induced humanity to search for alternative resources and eventually large phosphorite deposits were found in South Carolina, USA.…”

Section: Why Phosphorus-historic Development and Scarcity Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Phosphorus Processing—Potentials for Higher Efficiency

Hermann¹,

Kraus

Hermann³

2018

Sustainability

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Abstract:In the aftermath of the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement (COP21) by virtually all United Nations, producing more with less is imperative. In this context, phosphorus processing, despite its high efficiency compared to other steps in the value chain, needs to be revisited by science and industry. During processing, phosphorus is lost to phosphogypsum, disposed of in stacks globally piling up to 3-4 billion tons and growing by about 200 million tons per year, or directly discharged to the sea. Eutrophication, acidification, and long-term pollution are the environmental impacts of both practices. Economic and regulatory framework conditions determine whether the industry continues wasting phosphorus, pursues efficiency improvements or stops operations altogether. While reviewing current industrial practice and potentials for increasing processing efficiency with lower impact, the article addresses potentially conflicting goals of low energy and material use as well as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) as a tool for evaluating the relative impacts of improvement strategies. Finally, options by which corporations could pro-actively and credibly demonstrate phosphorus stewardship as well as options by which policy makers could enforce improvement without impairing business locations are discussed.

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Section: Circular Economymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Circular Economymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Why Phosphorus-historic Development and Scarcity Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Why Phosphorus-historic Development and Scarcity Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Phosphorus Processing—Potentials for Higher Efficiency

Hermann¹,

Kraus

Hermann³

2018

Sustainability

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“…The availability of P as a non-renewable resource has recently been suggested as a cause for concern, through discussion of the concept of Ôpeak phosphorusÕ (Cordell et al 2009;Ulrich and Frossard 2014). Evidence of scarcity was based in part on the published reserves of P (e.g., Jasinski 2016a), which suggested that known reserves would be exhausted in 100 years (Fig.…”

Section: Phosphorusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Innovation in Resourcing Geological Materials as Crop Nutrients

Manning

2017

Nat Resour Res

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Mineral resources are fundamental to the growth and development of human society. Extraction of metal ores has risen very slightly as a proportion of all resources, while construction and industrial mineral extraction has grown much more rapidly. This reflects growth in GDP, which is much faster than population growth, in turn reflecting improved standards of living, growth in urban housing/infrastructure and growth in the consumer society. Fertilizer minerals in particular are essential resources for production of the food needed by an increasing global population. Nitrogen fertilizer manufacture requires fossil fuels-especially natural gas (methane) as a source of the hydrogen needed for the HaberBosch process. Phosphate fertilizers are predominantly manufactured using phosphate rock as a source of phosphoric acid, and there is scope to recover phosphorus from contaminated waters. Potassium fertilizers are produced from evaporite deposits, mainly in the global north. It is difficult for poorer countries with deeply leached soils to access and make efficient use of existing conventional products. Globally, while N and P fertilizer application replaces the nutrient removed by crops and so is in balance, twice as much K is being removed from soils as is being replaced. This leads to the need for innovation in developing novel sources of K, especially to support agricultural production in the global south. Rocks containing K silicate minerals (such as feldspar and nepheline) occur widely as potential sources of K for use in soils where these minerals weather rapidly. Observations of surface corrosion in feldspars taken from soils after 10 years exposure to soil microbial systems demonstrates rates of dissolution 4 orders of magnitude greater than determined in the laboratory. Innovation in use of these minerals depends on an understanding of the role of microbial processes in silicate mineral decomposition.

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Canopy Management

2022

Wheat

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On the history of a reoccurring concept: Phosphorus scarcity

Cited by 91 publications

References 49 publications

Phosphorus Processing—Potentials for Higher Efficiency

Phosphorus Processing—Potentials for Higher Efficiency

Innovation in Resourcing Geological Materials as Crop Nutrients

Canopy Management

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