fertilizer Archives - usatoday24

Europe has a shitty plan (sorry) to end the fertilizer crisis: manure

May 31, 2026 by usatoday24

He blockade of the Strait of Hormuz After the attacks by the US and Israel on Iran, it has had consequences that we have noticed from day one, such as the rise in fuel prices. There are others that threaten on the horizon and that are even more fearsome: according to United Nations dataApproximately a third of the world’s fertilizer trade and 20% of global LNG, an essential ingredient for manufacturing nitrogen fertilizers, pass through there. And fertilizer is providential so that food from the garden and farm reaches our table. Europe, which manufactures most of its fertilizers by burning imported natural gas, found itself overnight with skyrocketing prices and a very dark horizon. With prices 70% higher than in 2024the farmers don’t get the bills. For consumers, it seems clear that filling the shopping basket is going to be more expensive. So the European Commission has a contingency plan: the Fertilizer Action Plan. A literal shitty alternative. The central proposal from Brussels is to expand the recycling of slurry and agricultural waste to convert them into fertilizer following the program RENURE. The idea is not new: already in 2024 the Commission proposed to modify the Nitrates Directive to allow certain fertilizer materials derived from livestock manure to function as an alternative to chemical fertilizers under certain conditions. In fact, it is neither new nor sufficient. As MEP Herbert Dorfmann bluntly summarized: “manure can contribute, but it can never replace fertilizers based on urea and nitrogen.” From a technical point of view, this is an incontestable reality: synthetic fertilizers produced through the process of Haber-Bosch They have much higher available nitrogen densities than digestate or processed slurry. Why it is important. Because the Nitrogen fertilizers are the basis of modern industrial agriculture. Without them, having the supply and quantity of products that we have and at that price would be simply impossible. According to Mosaic Crop Nutrition data For agricultural production in the US, average corn yields would fall by 40% without nitrogen fertilizers. For wheat, long-term studies point to similar drops of 40%. In short, it is the pillar on which the ability to feed the planet’s population is supported. The fertilizer crisis once again puts Europe’s strategic dependence on the table, in this case on its agriculture, on fossil fuels (from third parties) and everything that its use entails: water, soil and air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and public health risks. Every time there are geopolitical tensions in a gas-producing region, Europe trembles faced with the possibility of being cold or go hungry. Context. We mentioned being cold because not too long ago Europe looked into the abyss: the start of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in 2022 brought with it an increase in the price of gas and fertilizers, which caused farmers on the old continent to reduce the use of fertilizer (and therefore, lower their yields). At that time the EU put a patch on it and now, four years later, seen in the same scenario and with the same structural problems. The current plan mentions necessary solutions such as improving nutrient management or promoting organic farming (environmental MEP Thomas Waitz also has said loud and clear that Europe is addicted to fertilizers derived from fossil fuels), but there are no concrete actions or obligations. We insist: RENURE is not something new, when the Commission proposed it a couple of years ago it already had the support of Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium and Romania, among others. Of course, its application was at a standstill due to regulatory issues. How do they want to do it?. The mechanism consists of modifying the EU Nitrates Directive to allow more digestate to be applied to agricultural fields, putting it on a par with mineral fertilizers. The digestate is what remains after fermenting the slurry in biogas plants: it contains nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, although in concentrations and forms of assimilation significantly lower than those of the synthetic fertilizer. In parallel, the plan mentions measures such as improving integrated nutrient management and promoting a transition towards organic agriculture, although without specific commitments or binding calendars. Yes, but. The big underlying problem is that Europe does not lack nitrogen, quite the opposite. In fact, the EU already has more nitrogen than their soils can safely absorb, which promotes the eutrophication and deterioration of rivers and lakes, in addition to ammonia emissions and contamination of drinking water. Adding more slurry to soils that are already saturated is neither a solution to shortages (and prices) nor is it good for the environment. A recent UNECE report estimates that Europe wastes between €20 billion and €60 billion in nitrogen resources each year, while the environmental and health costs of excess nitrogen pollution reach, according to the European Commission itselfbetween 70,000 and 320,000 million euros annually. The real solution is to get rid of fossil gas in the long term (and have plans similar to those with oil, with long contracts, diversification and strategic reserves) and bet on alternative technologies such as green ammonia. In this scenario, slurry can play a role in a circular economy, but it is certainly not an emergency patch. In Xataka | We are wasting a valuable resource: urine is helping solve the fertilizer crisis In Xataka | The Iran war has disrupted the global fertilizer trade. And that’s bad news for the shopping cart. Cover | Daniel Quiceno M and Markus Spiske

the collapse of the fertilizer trade

May 13, 2026 by usatoday24

If they have something wars like the one in Iran (or Ukraine) is that they remind us of the enormous fragility of some of the pillars that support the world economy. And that is something that is beginning to worry farmers. In addition to being a key channel for oil trafficthe Strait of Hormuz is a strategic piece in the world trade in nitrogen fertilizers. The UN estimates that before the war it passed through there one third of global maritime traffic of an input that, in turn, influences performance of the crops. After more than two months with maritime traffic blocked or at least conditionedmore and more voices warn that alterations in the supply of fertilizers may end up leading to a food crisis draft. The alarms go off. Warnings about how the Iran war could affect fertilizer trafficking may not have been raised as early as those in the oil marketbut that does not mean that the topic is not generate concern almost from the beginning. In early March, shortly after the US and Israel attacked Tehran, some analysts They were already raising their voices to warn of the risks that the conflict would alter the global distribution of urea, a nitrogen fertilizer in which the Persian Gulf plays a fundamental role. Graphic: Statista. How fundamental? The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) calculate that around 36% of global urea exports between 2023 and 2025 came from Persian Gulf countries, especially Iran, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Not bad if we take into account two pieces of information that underlines the institute itself. First, urea is the nitrogen fertilizer most used, which gives an idea of its relevance for crops. Second, how distributed the flow is. Its main importers are India, Brazil, Australia, Thailand, the USA and Türkiye. On that map Tehran plays an essential role. Both because of its weight as a producer and exporter, and because of the control it exercises over the Strait of Hormuz, which channels a good part of the world’s fertilizer trade. The UN estimates that around one third of all merchandise moved by sea, which is equivalent to 16 million tons. It is understandable if you take into account that one of the largest plants of urea on the planet (QAFCO) is in Qatar, a facility that, by the way, saw blocked its production at the beginning of the war due to alterations in the supply of natural gas. The reason? Again the interconnection of the global economy. LNG is a essential input in the production of fertilizers such as urea or ammonia. A sinking traffic. The problem is that, after several months of war in the Middle East, the global fertilizer supply chain is beginning to show signs of suffering. The latest signal has been issued by the OECD. And clearly. According to his observations (advanced by the EFE agency), the organization has detected that in April the movement of goods by sea plummeted to its lowest level since January 2019. And that at a minimum, since OECD statistics do not allow us to go back further. The OECD has also detected a decrease in the flow of oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) through Hormuz, but the data on urea are especially alarming. To begin with, because the organization has confirmed the great weight of the Gulf in its traffic, with 18 specialized berths. The OECD warning also comes just when some countries are beginning to feel the disruption of the supply chain. A clear case is in Nepal: its volume of reserves is well below what is necessary (171,000 t compared to 250,000), which has already led the Government to purchase 80,000 t of emergency chemical fertilizer thanks to an agreement with India. Is it the only indicator? No. The OECD warning is one more stroke in a much broader picture in which not only the flows of merchandise are altered. Another key indicator is the prices of fertilizers. At the end of April Reuters echoed already from the rise in the value of urea. And although in recent weeks its price has been softenedgo on far above of the one noted on February 27, before the war broke out. It’s not just about the traffic disruptions in Hormuz. LNG also influences the cost of fertilizer. The situation has reached such a point that Fertiglobe, a major fertilizer company, has started operating its plants in the United Arab Emirates at full capacity and then transport the fertilizer in trucks to other ports far from Hormuz, its natural outlet. The operation raises costs so much that under other circumstances it would not be profitable. After the price increase that has changed. “As long as we manage to overcome the logistical obstacles, the price more than makes up for it,” explains a manager from the company to Financial Times. “The market is desperate.” The alarms go off. The big question is what to expect from now on. Although the UN recognize Since not all countries are equally exposed to interruptions in the supply of fertilizers and not all regions of the world harvests follow the same calendar, there are organizations that have already raised their voices to warn of the impact that war can have. There are several factors at play: the problems of transporting fertilizer and the fact that its cost ends up skyrocketing so much that farmers do without it or look for alternativessomething that could affect crop yields. Another question is whether this will be felt in food prices. Déjà vu in the fields. The photo is partly reminiscent of what was experienced at the beginning of the Ukrainian war, although with nuances. “In 2022 much of the fertilizer was finally distributed,” explains to Reuters Shwan Arita, of the Agricultural Risk Policy Center at North Dakota State University. “The supply shortages we’re seeing now are much more severe.” Another handicap is that, unlike what happened a few years ago, cereal prices after several campaigns with generous harvests … Read more

urine is helping solve the fertilizer crisis

April 17, 2026 by usatoday24

I never imagined that one day I would find myself in the position of calculating how much human urine Spain produces each year, but here we are: adding permanent residents and international tourists, the country produces 23,948 million liters of urine per year. 23,000 million that we are literally flushing down the toilet and that, in short, could help us solve the enormous problem that is approaching us with the fertilizer crisis. Use urine as fertilizer? It’s not a new idea. In fact, it has been around for more than fifteen years and there are already commercial fertilizers on the market (the Swiss Aurin, for example) and others that are under development (one in Spain by the ICTA-UAB). In places as diverse as the United States, France or the International Space Station, the use of urine is the order of the day. For years the Rich Earth Institute Vermont (USA) has a program dedicated to examining the safety and efficiency of using urine for this purpose. As they themselves explained on the BBCthe idea of recycling urine responds to two basic reasons: the first is “the fertilizers it produces, which are valuable for agriculture”, the second is “the pollution it avoids”. Resolved. As if that were not enough, as our DAP colleagues explainthe University of Surrey has just solved one of the key processing problems: clouding of membranes in the concentration process. And then? If we have been working for 15 years, why do we still depend on the Gulf? Because the barrier is not scientific, the barrier is infrastructure and regulation. Let’s think about it for a moment: yes, Spain produces almost 24,000 million liters of urine, but how the hell are we going to collect it? We would need an entire circuit of toilets with urine separation, a channeling, collection and processing system on a national scale. Plus, if we had all that, there would still be a ton of regulatory issues and associated risks (like pharmaceutical waste). The thing is moving. That is true: the rising price of Gulf urea makes all these alternatives more attractive. And it does it automatically. In that sense, the 473 liters of urine produced by each adult can be a small ‘gold mine’. The issue, as I say, is that it is not simple: studies indicate that in the sewer urine is diluted up to 100 timesso it must be separated at source and collected with separate circuit toilets (something that, well, right now is anecdotal in urban environments). But it starts somewhere. Because, as said Siddharth Gadkari, lead author of the study published in the Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, human urine hides a kind of paradox: “although it contains the essential nutrients we need for agriculture, we currently treat it as waste.” With a little luck, these connection tests will move legislation and in a few years we will begin to see how that begins to change. Image | Philippe Murray Pietsch In Xataka | Going to the bathroom is a waste: urine is the real liquid gold and is full of valuable things

May loved ones be fertilizer for plants

March 16, 2026 by usatoday24

Beyond our cultural differences, most countries in the world (especially in the West) tend to share something: we do not like to talk about death. Nothing. That is why it is curious that in New York part of the public attention take a while revolving around one of its great cemeteries, Green-Wooda 190-hectare cemetery founded in the 19th century. Even more striking is that Green-Wood does not it’s news for its infrastructure or logistics, but for the new service it wants to implement: the “natural organic reduction”also known as “terramation” or (more graphic) “human composting.” And yes, it is exactly what it sounds like: treating corpses so that they become human compost. It may sound strange or macabre, but its defenders they assure which is an alternative and much more “ecological” way to say goodbye to the world. Green-Wood Earrings. We mentioned it before. In a world accustomed to living with its back on death, it is not common to find cases like that of Green-Wood, a huge cemetery of almost 200 hectares located in the western part of Brooklyn that has been arousing public curiosity for weeks. Recently media like CBS News, New York Posts or even The Wall Street Journal They dedicated extensive reports to it due to the decision of its managers to bet on a new (and controversial) service: the “terramation”. Put that way, the term may not be understood very well, but that changes when you use its most common synonym: “human composting.” If everything goes according to plan and the New York State Cemetery Board gives it the green light, New York families will be able to do so there starting next year. They won’t be the first. The “terramation” has already some time available in other parts of the US and there are other countries that have also approved it, like sweden. Last (and ecological) goodbye. When a person dies, the most common thing is that their body ends up in a coffin and rests underground or in a pantheon. It is also common (increasingly) that the deceased leave a record of their wish to be cremated. Burials and cremations, however, are only two of the ways in which we can say goodbye to this world. During recent years there have been developed alternatives much less popular (and with a legal framework that is sometimes more complicated), but which generate increasing interest. For example the “ecological burials”in which we seek to reduce as much as possible the contaminating footprint of the funeral. As? Avoiding the use of chemicals for embalming or coffins made with non-biodegradable materials. The idea is simple: make it as easy as possible for nature. Another option is the “aquamation”a cremation method based on water and alkaline chemicals. one step further. The “human composting” system like the one Green-Wood wants to incorporate goes one step further. The corpses are placed in special containers in which the natural degradation process is accelerated. Thanks to a regulated flow of air, temperature and humidity, as well as organic material, the microbes do their job and the body decomposes in just a few weeks. “They remain in a capsule for 40 days, a time during which, thanks to a gentle rocking, it becomes earth,” clarify from Green-Wood. If remains such as bones remain after this process, they are treated separately to add them to the final result: a kind of human ‘compost’ that can then be distributed throughout a garden or in which, for example, a seed can be planted to remember the deceased. The same thing that many families do with ashes, only after a more natural and ecological process. At least that’s how its promoters defend it, they insist especially in its environmental sustainability. What advantages are those? The underlying philosophy is the same as that of “ecological burials”, in which embalming and coffins are usually dispensed with, but with an extra advantage: since there is no burial, it does not need the space that a traditional burial requires. And that is not a minor detail in cemeteries like Brooklyn. Cremation also has that advantage, but there are experts who warn of its ecological footprint: during incineration, certain toxins are released into the atmosphere, in addition to a notable amount of CO2. “A 2021 report indicates that the impact on the greenhouse effect of a cremation, taking into account electricity consumption, transportation and the resources used, as well as natural gas, is about 430 kg of CO2 equivalent,” note professors Sandra van der Laan and Lee Moerman in an article published in January in The Conversation. “According to the same report, each standard burial in Australia is responsible for the emission of about 780 kg of CO2 equivalent.” Environment… and something more. Beyond its greater or lesser attractiveness in ecological terms, “human composting” offers another great advantage: costs and space. three years ago Guardian already reported that the promoters of “terramation” in the US offered the service for $7,000, not very different from a traditional cremation or burial, although in the latter case another crucial cost is added to the embalming and coffin: that of the land. Plots in cemeteries are a scarce commodity and this translates into both a logistical and cost problem. “Burial is increasingly inaccessible for many. It is expensive and cemeteries are running out of space, especially in urban areas,” warn Sandra van der Laan and Lee Moerman. Its analysis focuses on Australia, but is transferable to other countries. A scarce and “valuable” resource. “While many Australian cemeteries now have a limited term of use for plots (25 years in most cases, renewable up to 99), the space is still valuable,” warn the experts. They are not the only ones who point out that handicap. In a report recent for TWSJ On Green-Wood, Tom Fairless recalled that the Brooklyn Cemetery is running out of space. A prospect that is unlikely to improve as the baby boom cohort ages, passes away, and creates greater demand for funeral services, … Read more

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