Abstract
Phosphorus (P) is a critical nutrient in maintaining security and resiliency in the food and agricultural system. Inefficiencies in the current usage of P fertilizers has led to excessive mining of phosphate rock and loss of excess P to surface water bodies, contributing to eutrophication. The reduction, recovery, and reuse of P throughout the agricultural system can assist in generating a more effective circular P economy. In the United States (US), corn ethanol biorefineries are major intermediate agricultural processors that can recover renewable P (rP) for reuse as a fertilizer, resulting in reductions of P in distillers grain feed, an animal feed co-product, and associated animal wastes. On a global scale, the transfer from animal to soy-based proteins, such as soy protein concentrate (SPC), and recovery of rP from SPC could reduce P requirements of human diets.
The overarching goal of this work was to model and map the potential benefits associated with P recovery at US corn ethanol biorefineries and a global transition to SPC protein. This talk will touch on the four primary objectives of this work including: (1) the mapping of rP generation potential from biorefineries across the US and comparing to cropland fertilizer P utilization; (2) the modeling of biorefinery distillers grains flows across the US and potential P reduction benefits from animals fed distillers grains with reduced P; (3) elucidating localized P recovery and reduction benefits from biorefineries among watersheds in the Midwest US; and (4) modeling and mapping global P reduction benefits of a dietary shift from animal to soy-based protein including rP potential.
Speaker Bio:
Ken Ruffatto (he/him) is a PhD candidate of environmental engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He received his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and master’s in environmental engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, IL. Before UIUC, he worked as an environmental engineer for the USEPA Region 5 Headquarters in Chicago, IL and an industrial wastewater consultant at Civil and Environmental Consultants, Inc. in Lombard, IL. He is currently a licensed professional engineer (PE) in the state of Illinois. At UIUC, he works as a pre-doctoral research fellow in the lab of Prof. Ro Cusick where he models national and global potential for innovative phosphorus recovery techniques and circularity. In his free time, he enjoys making music, gardening, and renovating his house.
