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| 2. |
- Metson, Genevieve, 1988-, et al.
(författare)
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Feeding the Corn Belt: Opportunities for phosphorus recycling in U.S. agriculture
- 2016
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Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 542:Part B, s. 1117-1126
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The supply of phosphorus (P) is a critical concern for food security. Concentrated mineral P deposits have been the source of almost all new P entering the biosphere. However, this resource is often used inefficiently, raising concerns about both nutrient pollution and future access to fertilizers. One solution to both of these problems is to enhance our ability to capture and recycle P from waste streams. However, the efficacy of doing this has not been rigorously explored. Here, we examine the potential for recycling major P sources in the United States to supply the necessary P for domestic corn (maize) production. Using 2002 population and agricultural census data, we examine the distribution of three key recyclable P sources (human food waste, human excreta, and animal manure) and P demand from grain and silage corn across the country to determine the distance P would need to be transported from sources to replenish P removed from soils in harvested corn plants. We find that domestic recyclable P sources, predominantly from animal manures, could meet national corn production P demands with no additional fertilizer inputs. In fact, only 37% of U.S. sources of recyclable P would be required to meet all P demand from U.S. corn harvested annually. Seventy-four percent of corn P demand could be met by recyclable P sources in the same county. Surplus recyclable P sources within-counties would then need to travel on average 302 km to meet the largest demand in and around the center of the ‘Corn Belt’ region where ~ 50% of national corn P demand is located. We find that distances between recyclable sources and crop demands are surprisingly short for most of the country, and that this recycling potential is mostly related to manure. This information can help direct where recycling efforts should be most-effectively directed.
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| 3. |
- Nesme, Thomas, et al.
(författare)
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Global phosphorus flows through agricultural trade
- 2018
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Ingår i: Global Environmental Change. - : Elsevier. - 0959-3780 .- 1872-9495. ; 50, s. 133-141
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The global phosphorus cycle has been transformed in recent decades through increased use of mineral phosphorus fertilizer in agriculture and losses to water bodies, leading to risks of fossil phosphorus resource depletion and freshwater eutrophication. By moving phosphorus resources across world regions, international trade of agricultural products (food, feed, fiber and fuel) may contribute to these changes in the global phosphorus cycle, including critical nutrient imbalances. However, we lack a comprehensive, quantitative understanding of the role of agricultural trade in the global phosphorus cycle. By combining detailed data on international trade and the phosphorus content of agricultural products, we demonstrate that phosphorus flows through trade increased nearly eight-fold from 0.4 Tg P/yr in 1961 to 3.0 Tg P/yr in 2011, leading to an increase in the fraction of phosphorus taken up by crops that is subsequently exported from 9% in 1961 to 20% in 2011. The P flows in traded agricultural products was equivalent to 27% of the P traded in mineral fertilizers in 2011. Agricultural P flows were mostly driven by trade of cereals, soybeans and feed-cakes, with 28% of global phosphorus traded in human food, 44% in animal feed and 28% in crops for other uses in 2011. We found a strong spatial pattern in traded phosphorus in agricultural products, with most flows originating from the Americas and ending in Western Europe and Asia, with large amounts of phosphorus moving through trade within Western Europe, in strong contrast with the pattern of the mineral P fertilizer trade. We demonstrate that international trade of agricultural products has affected the domestic phosphorus cycle within many countries, making phosphorus exporters susceptible to the volatility of the mineral phosphorus fertilizer market. Overall, these results highlight the importance of trade as key component of the global phosphorus cycle.
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| 4. |
- Nesme, Thomas, et al.
(författare)
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The surprisingly small but increasing role of international agricultural trade on the European Union’s dependence on mineral phosphorus fertiliser
- 2016
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Ingår i: Environmental Research Letters. - : Institute of Physics (IOP). - 1748-9326. ; 11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Phosphorus (P) is subject to global management challenges due to its importance to both food security and water quality. The European Union (EU) has promoted policies to limit fertiliser over-application and protect water quality for more than 20 years, helping to reduce European P use. Over this time period, the EU has, however, become more reliant on imported agricultural products. These imported products require fertiliser to be used in distant countries to grow crops that will ultimately feed European people and livestock. As such, these imports represent a displacement of European P demand, possibly allowing Europe to decrease its apparent P footprint by moving P use to locations outside the EU. We investigated the effect of EU imports on the European P fertiliser footprint to better understand whether the EU's decrease in fertiliser use over time resulted from P demand being 'outsourced' to other countries or whether it truly represented a decline in P demand. To do this, we quantified the 'virtual P flow' defined as the amount of mineral P fertiliser applied to agricultural soils in non-EU countries to support agricultural product imports to the EU. We found that the EU imported a virtual P flow of 0.55 Tg P/yr in 1995 that, surprisingly, decreased to 0.50 Tg P/yr in 2009. These results were contrary to our hypothesis that trade increases would be used to help the EU reduce its domestic P fertiliser use by outsourcing its P footprint abroad. Still, the contribution of virtual P flows to the total P footprint of the EU has increased by 40% from 1995 to 2009 due to a dramatic decrease in domestic P fertiliser use in Europe: in 1995, virtual P was equivalent to 32% of the P used as fertiliser domestically to support domestic consumption but jumped to 53% in 2009. Soybean and palm tree products from South America and South East Asia contributed most to the virtual P flow. These results demonstrate that, although policies in the EU have successfully decreased the domestic dependence on mineral P fertiliser, in order to continue to limit global potential mineral P supply depletion and consequences of P losses to waterways the EU may have to think about its trading partners.
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| 5. |
- Withers, Paul J. A., et al.
(författare)
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Stewardship to tackle global phosphorus inefficiency: The case of Europe
- 2015
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Ingår i: Ambio. - : Springer. - 0044-7447 .- 1654-7209. ; 44:2, s. 193-206
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The inefficient use of phosphorus (P) in the food chain is a threat to the global aquatic environment and the health and well-being of citizens, and it is depleting an essential finite natural resource critical for future food security and ecosystem function. We outline a strategic framework of 5R stewardship (Re-align P inputs, Reduce P losses, Recycle P in bioresources, Recover P in wastes, and Redefine P in food systems) to help identify and deliver a range of integrated, cost-effective, and feasible technological innovations to improve P use efficiency in society and reduce Europe’s dependence on P imports. Their combined adoption facilitated by interactive policies, co-operation between upstream and downstream stakeholders (researchers, investors, producers, distributors, and consumers), and more harmonized approaches to P accounting would maximize the resource and environmental benefits and help deliver a more competitive, circular, and sustainable European economy. The case of Europe provides a blueprint for global P stewardship.
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