Endangered Elements
March 28, 2011
The Royal Society for Chemicals released an interesting report on future problems, particularly materials shortages, that materials chemists may need to solve including “peak phosphorous.” Phosphorus is a key and essential ingredient in plant fertilizers. Other possible shortages, as most are aware, include some Rare Earths, Indium, maybe Lithium. These shortages not only make for interesting problem statements for university research but also for startups – as supply/demand becomes tighter, prices go up. Here is a great summary graphic from the report (click on it to pop up a larger view):
Just Do the Experiment 