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Environmental Material Accounting Case Study

Environmental Material Accounting Phosphorus (P) for sustainable use within the framework of an infrastructural system at the national level is subsequent to a filtration-based system. The topography of Australia is flat throughout south central coast and the middle south interior of the country. The coast bordering Sydney is mountainous whilst Western Australia is hilly terrain. The filtration system from a top-down perspective will flow from the mountain and hill peaks down through a filtration system that eventually bottlenecks at the coast where P. can be collected. Below is a topographical map of Australia that depicts the mountainous area near Sydney in White, the lowest lying region in darkest green, and the higher regions in lighter green to brown/yellow to tan.

Source: Macey (2005) http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Map-from-above-shows-Australia-is-a-very-flat-place/2005/01/21/1106110947946.html

"We need to be concerned about the emerging threat of phosphorus scarcity, as well as the impacts of too much phosphorus through run-off into lakes and oceans," says Matt Kane, program director in NSF's Division of Environmental Biology, which supports the phosphorus summit." (Targeted News Service, 2011)

The sustainable use of P. is really a function of the P. collected. The analysis has estimated P. To be 1546.87 tonnes of P. The P. is distributed onto the agricultural lands in a ratio that equates to a specified yield...

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Such that P = x (y) where x is the expected crop yield and y is the crop type. So if 1000P is needed to grow 200 bushels of 1 yield of wheat then the captured P. is undergoing sustainable usage. The study does point to the eventual environmental degredation from the overuse of P. As a fertilizer.
According to Sharpley, Foy, & Withers (2000), "One of the main challenges to sustainable P. management in agriculture is balancing P. inputs in fertilizers and feed wwith P. outputs in farm produce. In areas where large numbers of animal feeding operations are present, manure P, once considered a resource, is increasingly seen as a waste." (Sharpley, Foy, Withers, 2000)

Additionally, according to Sharpley, Foy, & Withers, (2000), "Soil P tests have provided farmers with an indication of how much potentially plant-available P. is present in a soil and consequently how much fertilizer P. To apply to obtain the desired crop yields. The inputs of P. must be accurately estimated to optimize economic return to farmers and minimize P. transfer from soils to surface waters (Beegle et al., 2000; Morel et al., 2000; Sims et al., 2000)." (Sharpley, Foy, Withers, 2000)

The optimal system design is to test the soil for P. levels and determine whether the soil is deficient in P. will enable the distribution system to distribute the P. from locations that are excessive in P. To locations that are currently deficient…

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References

Hammond, J. & White, P. 2008, "Sustainable future for fertilisers," Horticulture Week,, pp. 33-34.

Phosphorus: Too Much or Too Little? 2011,, SPRINGFIELD, VA, United States.

Sharpley, A., Foy, B. & Withers, P. 2000, "Practical and innovative measures for the control of agricultural phosphorus losses to water: An overview," Journal of environmental quality, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 1-1.
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