The study from University College London finds that global demand for sulphuric acid is set to rise significantly from ‘246 to 400 million tonnes’ by 2040 - a result of more intensive agriculture and the world moving away from fossil fuels.
The researchers estimate that this will result in a shortfall in annual supply of between 100 and 320 million tonnes - between 40 and 130 per cent of current supply - depending on how quickly decarbonisation occurs.
A vital part of modern manufacturing, sulphuric acid is required for the production of phosphorus fertilisers that help feed the world, and for extracting rare metals from ores essential to the rapidly required green economy transition, like cobalt and nickel used in high-performance Li-ion batteries.
Currently, over 80 per cent of the global sulphur supply is in the form of sulphur waste from the desulphurisation of crude oil and natural gas that reduces the sulphur dioxide gas emissions that cause acid...