Paper author and earth system scientist Professor Mark Maslin of UCL said: “Sulphur shortages have occurred before, but what makes this different is that the source of the element is shifting away from being a waste product of the fossil fuel industry.
“What we’re predicting is that as supplies of this cheap, plentiful, and easily accessible form of sulphur dry up, demand may be met by a massive increase in direct mining of elemental sulphur.
“This, by contrast, will be dirty, toxic, destructive, and expensive.
“Research is urgently needed to develop low-cost, low environment impact methods of extracting large quantities of elemental sulphur from the abundant deposits of sulphate minerals in the Earth’s crust.”
READ MORE: Floating artificial leaves make fuel from sunlight and water
Article source: https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1657766/resource-crisis-sulphur-shortage-threatens-food-security-green-tech-decarbonisation