Abstract
The inorganic resources we use are normally not renewable in the same way as biomass. There is only a given amount of phosphorus or iron. The availability of these elements can vary a lot and recycling of materials used is very important. Today, phosphorus is taken out from natural storages like in Spanish Sahara/Morocco, while we bind phosphorus in waste water treatment plants after precipitation with metal salts, giving products normally only deposited not reused. Some elements like lithium, platinum and niobium are important for batteries and motors, and here we also have a true limitation. In Chap. 6 we go through those elements that are of major importance for human society. What available resources do we have? How can these be extracted and recycled? An exception from the other elements is nitrogen that is 79% of air, but can only be used after conversion to NO3 or NH3; thus, the possibility for conversion is of major importance.
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Dahlquist, E. (2017). Nonorganic and Fossil Resources: Known and Estimated Resources. In: Dahlquist, E., Hellstrand, S. (eds) Natural Resources Available Today and in the Future. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54263-8_6
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