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Energy decarbonization threatens food security by reducing the availability of cheap sulfur

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The overlooked link between fossil fuel-derived sulfur and the production of phosphate fertilizers may lower agricultural productivity and harm global food security unless action is taken.

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Fig. 1: Material flows related to production and use of phosphate fertilizers.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the UCL Geography Drawing Office for assistance with the diagram.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Risk and Disaster, UCL, London, UK

    Simon Day

  2. School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Peter Alexander

  3. Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Security, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Peter Alexander

  4. Department of Geography, UCL, London, UK

    Mark Maslin

Authors
  1. Simon Day
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  2. Peter Alexander
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  3. Mark Maslin
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All authors contributed equally to conceiving the idea and drafting the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Peter Alexander.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Day, S., Alexander, P. & Maslin, M. Energy decarbonization threatens food security by reducing the availability of cheap sulfur. Nat Food 4, 442–444 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-023-00782-1

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