Publikationen

Endangering the integrity of science by misusing unvalidated models and untested assumptions as facts: General considerations and the mineral and phosphorus scarcity fallacy

Scholz, R. W.; Wellmer, F. W.

Erschienen in Sustainability Science, August 2021

[...] Herein, we exemplarily elaborate how the integrity of science is endangered by normative solutionist and sociopolitically driven transition management and present mineral scarcity claims that ignore that reserves or resources are dynamic geotechnological-socioeconomic entities. We present the main mineral scarcity models and their fallacious assumptions. We then discuss the phosphorus scarcity fallacy, which is of particular interest as phosphorus is non-substitutable and half of all current food production depends on fertilizers (and thus phosphorus). We show that phosphorus scarcity claims are based on integrating basic geoeconomic knowledge and discuss cognitive and epistemological barriers and motivational and sociopolitical drivers promoting the scarcity fallacy, which affects high-level public media. [...]

Unconventional uranium in China’s phosphate rock: Review and outlook

Shang, D.; Geissler, B.; Mew, M.; Satalkina, L.; Zenk, L.; Tulsidas, H.; Barker, L.; El-Yahyaoui, A.; Hussein, A.; Taha, M.; Zheng, Y.; Wang, M.; Yao, Y.; Liu, X.; Deng, H.; Zhong, J.; Li, Z.; Steiner, G.; Bertau, M.; Haneklaus, N.

Erschienen im Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Volume 140,  April 2021, 110740

Some phosphate rock contains elevated concentrations of natural uranium. China is the largest phosphate rock producing country in the world and will soon have the largest uranium requirements in the world as well. Most phosphate rock deposits in China show low uranium concentrations (20–30 mg/kg) so that the recovery of radiotoxic heavy metals is neither economically appropriate nor ecologically necessary.

Thermal beneficiation of Sra Ouertane (Tunisia) low-grade phosphate rock.

Abbes, N./Bilal, E./Hermann, L./Steiner, G./Haneklaus, N.

Erschienen in Minerals 2020, 10(11), 937

Erschienen in Minerals Erschienen in Minerals 2020, 10(11), 937; Low-grade phosphate rock from Sra Ouertane (Tunisia) was beneficiated using a thermal treatment consisting of calcination, quenching, and disliming. Untreated phosphate rock samples (group 1), calcined phosphate rock samples (group 2), as well as calcined, quenched, and dislimed (group 3) phosphate rock samples, were investigated using inductively-coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). Besides, the particle size distribution of the aforementioned three groups was determined. The proposed thermal treatment successfully increased the P2O5 content of the untreated phosphate rock from 20.01 wt% (group 1) to 24.24 wt% (group 2) after calcination and, finally, 27.24 wt% (group 3) after calcination, quenching, and disliming. It was further found that the concentration of relevant accompanying rare earth elements (Ce, La, Nd, Pr, Sm, and Y) was increased and that the ...
 

Future Phosphate Rock Production – Peak or Plateau?

Michael Mew, Director, Fertecon Research Centre Limited

Erschienen Fertecon Research Centre Limited—A Matter of Opinion. 2009

Hubbert's Peak Oil theory is more than 60 years old, yet is still to be shown conclusively to describe the real oil world. Its derivative, Peak Phosphorus was first coined just four years ago, and yet discussion has already been moved on to when the peak will occur rather than whether the model adequately describes the phosphate industry at all. This work looks at the potential flaws in the model, discussing why, if anything, it is the substitutability of oil within the energy system that is more likely to be the factor implicit in determining the peak nature of the production curve rather than the fact that oil itself is a non-renewable resource.

Innovation potential along the phosphorus supply chain: A micro and macro perspective on the mining.

Geissler, B., Mew, M., Matschullat, J., Steiner, G.

Erschienen in Science of the Total Environment, 714, 2020.

Phosphorus is unique, given its characteristic of being essential for all life on Earth. The element is non-substitutable and finite in the form of highly concentrated phosphate-rock deposits. Thus, humankind should strive to utilize this resource in the most-efficient and sustainable manner.

Making Uranium Recovery from Phosphates Great Again?

Steiner, G., Haneklaus, N., Geissler, B.

Erschienen in Environmental Science & Technology, 54, 3, 1287–1289, 2020.

Uranium miners in the United States initiated the investigation, hoping for quotas on foreign uranium imports that would allow them to better compete with enterprises, often state-run and heavily subsidized, abroad. Quotas, if implemented, could, in fact, re-energize uranium mining in the U.S.

Phosphate supply security for importing countries: Developments and the current situation.

Geissler, B., Mew, M., Steiner, G.

Erschienen in Science of the Total Environment, 677: 511-523, 2019.

Cycling and Anthropogenic Use of Phosphorus in the 21st Century: Geoscientific and Geosocial Foundations of Agriculture

Scholz, R.W., Wellmer, F.-W.

Erschienen in Better Crops, 103(1), 9-12, 2019.

The global P cycle is considered from the perspective of geologic and historic timescales to help in the understanding of whether and when fundamental changes in agricultural practices for sustainable P may be needed.

Striving toward a phosphorus circular economy: The role of phosphate rock mining

Geissler, B., Hermann, L., Mew, M., Steiner, G.

Erschienen in Minerals, 8, 395, 2018.

As an element, phosphorus (P) is one of a kind. While it is essential for all life on Earth, phosphorus is neither substitutable nor infinite especially in terms of highly concentrated phosphate rock deposits. Society as a whole—and key stakeholders in particular—must build on and extend the idea of a linear system that begins with exploration, continues with extraction and processing, and ends with the application of fertilizers, by applying mechanisms of circularity

Sustainable Mineral Resource Management – Insights into the Case of Phosphorus

Steiner, G., Geissler, B.

Erschienen in Sustainability 10(8):2732, 2018.

Although it is among the most abundant elements in Earth’s crust (11th [1]) and water (13th [2]), phosphorus (P) is commonly referred to as “life’s bottleneck”, as “life can multiply until all the
phosphorus is gone, and then there is an inexorable halt which nothing can prevent.

Clearing the fog on phosphate rock data - Uncertainties, fuzziness, and misunderstandings

Geissler, B., Steiner, G., Mew, M.

Erschienen in Science of the Total Environment, 11(642): 250-263, 2018.

Big Data, blockchains, and cloud computing have become ubiquitous in today's mass media and are universally known terms used in everyday speech. If we look behind these often misused buzzwords, we find at least one common element, namely data. Although we hardly use these terms in the “classic discipline” of mineral economics, we find various similarities

Phosphorus Supply Chain—Scientific, Technical, and Economic Foundations: A Transdisciplinary Orientation

Mew, M., Steiner, G., Geissler, B.

Erschienen in Sustainability, 10(4): 1087, 2018.

Natural mineral resources, such as phosphates, represent global assets of tremendous economic value to stakeholders. Given its special characteristics and its essentiality for all life on Earth, phosphorus (P) bears additional value to society as it is both indispensable and not substitutable.

Peak minerals: What can we learn from the history of mineral economics and the cases of gold and phosphorus?

Wellmer, F.W., Scholz, R.W.

Erschienen 2016 in Mineral Resources, December 2016, pp 1-21.

Abstract: The objective of this paper is to provide a conceptual and empirical historic analysis of applications, misunderstandings, and fallacies surrounding the Hubbert curve, the U-shaped production curve of a commodity, and peak minerals. We show that the ultimate recoverable resources (URR) cannot be predicted by fitting a symmetric curve to the data of past (historic) production for any commodity on a global scale. Without knowledge of the URR, it is not possible to determine the peak production time. (...)

Efficiency performance of the world's leading corporations in phosphate rock mining

Bernhard Geissler, Michael C. Mew, Olaf Weber, Gerald Steiner

Erschienen in Resources, Conservation and Recycling, Volume 105, Part B, December 2015, pp. 246–258.

Abstract: The prominence of phosphorus (P) is represented by three major aspects: first and most important, P is essential for all life on Earth; second, no other element or substance can act as a substitute for P; and third, P is considered a non-renewable resource and thus finite. In regard to global food security and P as one of the three major macronutrients, the world faces an extensive challenge to utilize this finite and unsubstitutable commodity in the most effective as well as the most efficient way. Efficiency in general has increasingly become of major importance over the last several decades, especially within competitive commodities. [...]

Interactive comment on "Comment on: “Recent revisions of phosphate rock reserves and resources: a critique” by Edixhoven et al. (2014) – Phosphate reserves and resources: what conceptions and data do stakeholders need for sustainable action?” by R. W. Scholz and F.-W. Wellmer

B. Geissler and G. Steiner

Erschienen in Earth Syst. Dynam. Discuss., 6, C56–C68, 2015.

The following comment addresses especially the discussion paper by Scholz and Wellmer (2015), which focuses on phosphate reserves and resources, as a comment on ‘Recent revisions of phosphate rock reserves and resources: a critique’ by Edix- hoven, Gupta, and Savenije (2014). Additionally, the ongoing discussions and contributions by experts within the field like Cook (2014), Hilton (2013), Mew (2015) and, certainly, the origin of the discussion by Edixhoven, Gupta, and Savenije (2013) and the corresponding comments from Scholz and Wellmer (2013).

Efficiency developments in phosphate rock mining over the last three decades

Gerald Steiner, Bernhard Geissler, Ingrid Watson, Michael C. Mew

Erschienen in Resources, Conservation and Recycling, Volume 105, Part B, December 2015, Pages 235–245.

Abstract: This paper appraises losses and efficiency in phosphorus mining processes. The distinction between resource and economic efficiency as crucial determinants of the mining decision process is outlined in relation to the kind of agents involved. Second, we apply a system and process approach to visualize and better deal with the complexity of the phosphorus supply chain and to provide a framework of the extended phosphorus supply chain for subsequent efficiency analyses. (...)

Sustainable Phosphorus Management A Global Transdisciplinary Roadmap

Scholz, R.W., Roy, A.H., Brand, F.S., Hellums, D., Ulrich, A.E. (Eds.)

Erschienen 2014, Springer Verlag.

Abstract: This book describes a pathway for sustainable phosphorus management via the Global Transdisciplinary Processes for Sustainable Phosphorus Management project (Global TraPs). Global TraPs is a multi-stakeholder forum in which scientists from a variety of disciplines join with key actors in practice to jointly identify critical questions and to articulate what new knowledge, technologies and policy processes are needed to ensure that future phosphorus use is sustainable, improves food security and environmental quality and provides benefits for the poor. The book offers insight into economic scarcity and identifies options to improve efficiency and reduce environmental impacts of anthropogenic phosphorus flows at all stages of the supply and use chain.

Review on "Sustainable Phosphorus Management"

Ecological Economics 114 (2015) 245–246