The World Needs Phosphates: But Who Is Going to Pay the Price?

The extraction of phosphorus is fundamental for producing fertilizers and, consequently, to humans’ ability to feed an already eight billion population. Phosphorus is essential to all life forms, being part of life's molecular building blocks such as DNA, RNA, ATP, and phospholipids. As such, plants need a continuous supply of phosphorus, which is essential to maintaining agriculture as we know it today. Unlike other elemental nutrients for plant growth like nitrogen and potassium, which are abundant in the earth's crust and atmosphere, phosphorus is relatively scarce.