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Global Shortage, Bodily Abundance: Urine Fertilizer Could Help Address Urea Crisis
Urine may be the unlikely solution to the urea shortage which is having devastating effects worldwide, from farmers in India to truck drivers in South Korea, as reported recently in the New York Times article “This Chemical Is in Short Supply, and the Whole World Feels It” (Dec 6).
In contrast to current systems for procuring urea that are dependent on complicated industrial processes and global markets, our bodies also produce urea every day–contained in our urine. In Brattleboro, VT, the Rich Earth Institute collects and processes urine fertilizer to provide to local farms, replacing over 500 lbs of nitrogen fertilizer every year – the equivalent to about 22,000 loaves of bread. On a global scale, this process could replace a substantial proportion of nitrogen fertilizer needs.
However, the convoluted process of modern food production has resulted in a mismatch between where nutrients are needed (farms) and where they are already being produced by people (cities) but wasted by flushing them down the drain.
Researchers around the world are busy finding ways to efficiently reconnect these two ends of the nutrient cycle, as demonstrated at Rich Earth’s annual Summit. The path forward will involve deepening these global collaborations between regions to share knowledge and technology for localized nutrient cycling.
