Peak Phosphorus

Peak Phosphorus (from English ' peak ' ( mountain summits) and ' phosphorus ' (phosphorus) ) denotes the time at which the maximum global phosphate production is achieved. Phosphorus is a scarce, finite resource on earth and larger quantities can only be obtained from the rock phosphorite. According to some researchers the global phosphorus reserves are exploited in 50-100 years and the Peak Phosphorus be achieved by 2030. In stark contrast, the International Fertilizer Development Center estimated in 2010 that the Phosphoritreserven will range several hundred years. Small amounts of usable quantities of phosphates of biological origin are the deposits of guano in the vicinity of bird or bat breeding grounds. The phosphate-containing secretions of other mammals are difficult to use, but there are already attempts to effectively direct application of livestock manure and phosphate extraction from human urine taken.

Use of phosphorus

The use of phosphorus reserves is closely linked to food production from plants. Phosphorus is an essential plant nutrient. Without phosphorus fertilization two thirds of the world's population would starve, as plants would then bring less income. Fertilization with feces that contain relatively large amount of phosphate is less effective than chemical fertilizers and requires a livestock industry. A return to fertilization with human excrement increases the risk of parasitic infections in the population. There are no alternatives or synthetic products that could replace phosphorus in fertilizers.

Historical scarcity of guano reserves

In 1609, Garcilaso de la Vega wrote the book Comentarios Reales, in which he described many agriculturally practices of the Incas and the use of guano as a fertilizer before the arrival of the Spaniards. How Garcilaso described, used the coastal Incas guano as fertilizer. After discovering it from South America off the coast of islands, Alexander von Humboldt introduced as a source of agricultural fertilizer to Europe in the early 19th century guano. It has been reported that the guano on some islands was more than 30 feet thick before its discovery. The guano was mined from the Mochian as a fertilizer source in mines and shipped by boat to Peru. An international trade started only after 1840. With the beginning of the 20th century guano was almost completely exploited and eventually replaced as fertilizer from phosphate rock -derived calcium dihydrogen phosphate.

Estimated Phosphoritreserven

The precise determination of the Peak Phosphorus is dependent on the accurate knowledge about the entire Phosphoritreserven and future demand. Although many estimates of the occurrence of the Peak Phosphorus were made, many of them are marred by the imprecise knowledge about the quantities of global Phosphoritreserven. This is the reports of the phosphate mines against mainly caused by the distrust which inflate the values ​​in order to protect their economic interests. In 2012, the United States Geological Survey (USGS ) estimated that global Phosphoritreserven 71 billion tons, and the amounts funded amount to 0.19 billion tons. These sums, although they are used to predict the Peak Phosphorus have, because they have not been independently tested by the USGS, is of concern.

The reserves are based on the calculated using the current market price amount. Phosphorus has a mass fraction of 0.1 % of the average rock, ( while the typical concentration in plants between 0.03 % and 0.2 %) bringing several quadrillion tons are in the 3 * 1019 tons of earth's crust. even if it is not economical to reduce the deposits to the lower concentrations.

According to one source, there will be massive problems in agriculture over the next 50-100 years without new deposits of high-grade phosphorite. The ( GPRI ) According to Global Phosphorus Research Initiative, the reserves are 75 ranging up to 200 years. Therefore, the development of forms of agriculture, where the maintenance of nutrients is important, already an essential part of the research.

According to the GPRI disappear from 8 to 15 million tons of phosphorus every year due to leaching into the sea.

Conservation and Recycling

When growing food beyond the bottom of phosphorus. A large amount of phosphorus is transported around the world in the form of food. The phosphate content in the food is converted into the feces and rinsed ultimately into the oceans. An example here is the much phosphorus consuming, grown in South America, soybean. At the end of their journey, the phosphorus contained in soybean often ends up in the Europe or the USA rivers.

In an effort to shift the peak appearance Phosphorus, many possibilities are being tested to recycle the phosphorus and to reduce consumption. The lowering of the erosion on the field can slow the rate in which farmers again have to deploy phosphorus. Agricultural methods such as tillage, terraces and the use of windbreaks help to reduce the leaching of phosphorus. However, these methods are still dependent on the periodic incorporation of phosphorus with the earth.

The oldest method of phosphorus recycling is the use of human and animal excreta. Here, the phosphorus is absorbed from food and excreted through the feces, which are then collected and spread back on the fields. Although this method has been used by civilizations for centuries, the current system of collecting feces is logistically not applicable in larger scales on fields. In addition, with the direct use of human excreta is a danger of the proliferation of parasites. At present, the use of precipitates the demand of the agricultural economy by phosphorus not cover. Nevertheless, this is the most efficient way to recycle used phosphorus and return it to the earth. Integrated Agricultural Systems, which use animal sources for the fertilization of crops exist at smaller scales. An application of this in a larger scale an alternative, to provide nutrients, although this would involve extensive changes in modern fertilizer industry. Other and less efficient methods have also been tested. This includes the extraction of phosphorus-rich materials such as struvite from abfallverwertenden plants. The struvite is also produced when mixing of feces and magnesium. Some companies such as, for example, using this technique already NuReSys to recover phosphate.

The Soil Association, a UK organic farming certification and lobby group, suggested in the report published in 2010, "A rock and a Hard Place" for increased recycling of phosphorus. One possible solution is the recycling of human and animal excreta in larger scales.