Railroad Realizations: Part 1 - Phosphates
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I have been having a lot of fun and doing a great deal of research related to, what is essentially, my virtual model railroad. My RailOps project is pretty much at Alpha testing stage now, and I will happily provide a link for interested parties to apply for an account. My SVNO rail line, runs from Northern Ontario through New York and is headed down the East side of the Mississippi River. Currently the Southern terminus is near Columbus, Ohio.
The current rail network is made up of four rail companies. And it seems that railcars and goods are interchanging betweem them just fine. Currently I have over 300 industries, trading over 400 different products. There are supply chains and for sure a need to link suppliers up with consumers.
As I expand my rail network, and also develop and define the industries to handle realistic material and create a realistic supply chain, I am learning more and more about our world. I will say that I am utterly shocked about just how many different products and chemicals are made from just Natural Gas, Air and Water. It is bewildering. Another thing I stumbled across was this gem below. What kind of mine or operation was this? This is located just along my SVNO mainline coming into Ohio from West of Pittsburgh. At first very little information could be found about it.
But leave it to my lovely soon-to-be wife to find the answer. It was a chromium based alloy plant from the 50tys which produced the shiny metal used on fighter jets of the time. The white pile? A mound of slag. This news article explained the situation. The slag isn't like your typical Iron Mill slag. This is Hexavalent Chromium. While I am sure it could have it's uses, it is also a highly toxic and carcinogenic. Imagine living with that in your backyard for 50+ years.
Later on, I was seeking a source for Phosphates. It seems that Flordia is a hot spot for Phosphates. I heard 7 to 10 unit trains of Phosphates travel daily from the region South of Lakeland, FL. That is a LOT of material! Now we know that Coal, and Oil is actually fairly previlent. Same with Iron. but I wasn't sure about Phosphates, so, I did some more research. It turns out, the global reserves of phosphate rock are estimated to last between 50 to 100 years, depending on several factors such as demand growth, extraction technologies, and resource management.
Fifty to a Hundred years? That is actually scary. And it is more believable to me than the oil or coal scare 20 years ago. Phosphate deposits it seems tended to form around coral reefs or where there was an abundance of calcium rich sea life. Regardless, what does this mean?
When phosphate reserves deplete, the world would face significant challenges, especially in agriculture, food production, and environmental management, since phosphate rock is a non-renewable resource and a critical component of fertilizers. The availability of Phosphates will decrease, leading to a reduction in crop output. Food prices will therefore continue to rise. A global inflation related to the global rise in food costs would likely trigger worldwide economic reform, or turmoil, as factions began fighting for rich land, and the remaining phosphate reserves. The bleak future this paints seem similar to the future forecasted by the movie Interstellar. And I sure hope that remains fiction.