What would Happen if we Ran out of Phosphorus?
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- čas přidán 17. 03. 2024
- The world's current food supply production relies heavily on one chemical element that's slated to run out in our lifetime...
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Editing by Myles Adoh-Phillips
Written by Lucas L
Honestly running out of phosphorus wouldn’t be that bad if we had better farming practices. The Omnivore’s dilemma by Michael Pollan talks in depth about it
Since elements don't get "used up", it's more accurate to say that we have to recycle the phosphorous.
And in that aspect, the phosphorus producers don't care. It'll be the phosphorus recycling industry that would sprout up, that would necessarily need to find a price point that works for supply/demand. Eventually the demand curve will make recycling phosphorus economically attractive. With food being so heavily subsidized in the usa, that will be awhile. Gives democrats their talking point of "why are red states net negative taxpayers?!?!?" Farming subsidies, for the most part. Wanna see real panic? Stop food subsidies.
We literally have mountains of phosphorus, too cheap to even sell it. And we dig it up so much that our oceans bloom, poisoning many species. The only problem is that we need specific oxidation state. But if we ever come to a point where it would be beneficial to use that literally dirt-cheap mountains of phosphorus by converting it to needed oxidation state, then be assured we will.
The element of surprise.
*_Guano intensifies_*
I know, that's a nitrogen source. 🤷♂️
Can we just skim off the algal blooms and reclaim phosphorus from them in bulk?
Potato skins are the furthest thing from inedible
Far, but not furthest.
@@josorr speak for yourself, they're the only part of the potato I enjoy lol
You may have misunderstood. The furthest from inedible is maybe ice cream or cake or cookies, or steak or pizza. If you prefer potato skins to things like that, there is no help for you..@@louisbrill891
It could be feminisium.
Shhh.... nobody tell him we can harvest algae for phosphorus.
You do realize that it is literally impossible to run out of phosphorus right? It doesn’t go anywhere…
TIL potato skins are inedible
We're not running out of sand.
Source?
Sahara Desert? Every beach in the world? I dunno, define sand. It's all over the place. It's used in concrete. Am I missing something? @@necromancer___3054
Sand is not one homogenous thing. There are varying types of it, each of which is suitable for a specific application. The sand you'd use for concrete is not the same as the sand you find in deserts. Because of urbanization and construction on an unprecedented scale, there is a very real concern for the type of sand used in concrete. Other types are also going critical, like the sand used for computer chips. "The World in a Grain" by Vince Beiser goes into astonishing detail on all the sand-related crises and honestly it's a book I can't recommend enough