With the planet’s reserves of phosphorus running low, Scottish researchers are working on a new technique to recover this vital element from sewage. Phosphorus, which is a key ingredient in the fertilizers that grow our food, can’t be plucked out of the air and has to be mined in a handful of countries. This new technique uses extremely-resistant microalgae to capture the phosphorus found in the waste that we flush down the toilet. It may not be pretty, but this technique could lead to a solution for the world’s diminishing phosphorous supplies.
This article was originally published on September 26, 2017
