Green Options » peak

Peak Phosphorus – Urine Recyling on Space Station Earth

Paul O'Callaghan — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 00:22:39 +0000

This post was written by Paul O’Callaghan, founding CEO of the Clean Tech consultancy, O2 Environmental Inc. and lecturer on Sustainable Energy at the BC Institute of Technology.

First there was “Peak Oil’, then there was talk of ‘Peak Water’, but ‘Peak Phosphorus’, may trump them all as a sustainability issue without rival.

Fact: Phosphorus is a non-renewable resource for which there is no substitute.

Our ability to provide enough food to feed the human population is dependent on the use of artificial fertilizers, which contain nitrogen and phosphorus. While nitrogen is abundant in the atmosphere, phosphorus is mined at just a handful of locations worldwide.

The natural resources are limited and are being depleted. The timing for ‘Peak Phosphorus’ may be 50 years out or a hundred and fifty years, but as with peak oil, it’s not a question of if, but when. There has already been considerable volatility in Phosphorus prices in the past year, possibly related more to volatility in the energy market and this has trickled through into food prices. Many countries are pushing through environmental legislation to mandate phosphorus recycling and recovery and this is pushing a new wave of technologies and approaches to how we use and value this precious material.

Peak Helium? We are Running Out of Helium

Jennifer Lance — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 20:45:43 +0000

No more squeaky voices from floating balloons. No more Goodyear blimps. We may have reached peak helium levels, as this inert gas is endangered.

According to Scientific Blogging, helium is not readily renewable and is made through from uranium and thorium decaying over billions of years:

Lee Sobotka, professor of chemistry and physics at Washington University in St. Louis, says it is being depleted so rapidly in the world’s largest reserve, outside of Amarillo, Tex., that supplies are expected to be gone there within the next eight years.

Image: Goodyear Blimp

Conference On Local Solutions For The Energy Crisis

The Dave Room — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 17:42:39 +0000

While the presidential candidates are talking largely about offshore drilling, nuclear, clean coal, and large scale renewable energy strategies to be undertaken at a national level, there is a whole slate of community-based solutions that We The People can be working on locally.

To find out more, consider attending a conference on local community-based solutions to the energy crisis starting at the end of October in Rochester, Michigan.

Plan C: Individual and Community Survival Strategies for the Energy Crisis

The Fifth US Conference on Peak Oil and Community Solutions
October 31 – November 2, 2008
Rochester, Michigan
www.plancconference.org

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