Could nanotechnology provide the next green revolution in agriculture?
With the global population set to reach 9.8 billion by 2050, the world needs to produce more food than ever before. Using current farming methods, that means more fertiliser, more pesticides, more water and more energy.
But there are obvious problems. Water is a limited resource, with three out of four people worldwide facing possible drought conditions by 2050. Energy is also scarce, especially as the world transitions to renewable sources to avoid catastrophic climate change. Pesticides pollute the environment, decrease biodiversity and negatively affect human health, while fertilisers also cause environmental damage, especially when they are washed into rivers and oceans where they create algal blooms and dead zones. The nitrogen in fertiliser also contributes to the greenhouse effect, and agricultural use accounts for 85% of the world’s phosphorous resources, meaning they stand to be exhausted within 80 years.
Clearly...