Sulfuric acid: The next resource crisis that could stifle green tech and threaten food security

Subject: Science and Technology

Without sulfur in the form of , industries would struggle to produce the phosphorus fertilisers that raise farm yields or extract the essential metals used in everything from solar panels to electric car batteries.
Yet a problem looms, which has gone largely unnoticed. More than 80 per cent of the global sulfur supply is a waste product, extracted from fossil fuels like oil and natural gas (which typically contain between 1 per cent and 3 per cent sulfur by weight) to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide, the gas that causes acid rain.
Sulfuric acid prices would rise,stoking competition in which more profitable green technology industries are likely to outbid fertiliser producers. This would increase the cost of food production and make food more expensive for consumers, especially in developing countries where farmers are least able to afford the higher costs.

An essential industrial chemical

Sulfur is found in a wide range of products, including tyres, sulfur fertiliser, paper, soap and detergent.
But its most important application is in industrial chemistry, decomposing a wide range of materials.
The rapidly expanding use of low-carbon technologies, such as high-performance batteries, light-weight motors for vehicles, and solar panels, will significantly increase mining of mineral deposits, particularly laterite ores that are increasingly important sources of cobalt and nickel. All of these are currently extracted using large quantities of sulfuric acid.
The US Geological Survey estimates that there is an almost limitless supply of sulfate minerals in evaporites (rocks laid down by the natural evaporation of shallow, salty seas or lakes) and large resources of iron sulfides and elemental sulfur in volcanic deposits, but accessing these would require expanding mining and mineral processing.
Converting sulfates to sulfur using current methods consumes a lot of energy and emits a lot of carbon. Sulfur mining and sulfide ore processing can pollute the air, soil and water, acidifying surface pools and aquifers and emitting toxins including arsenic, thallium and mercury. And there are always human rights issues associated with intensive mining.