In the early twentieth century scientists around the world raced to find a simple and cheap process to produce nitrogen for fertilizer in order to meet the growing demand for crops. Before then, the only consistent source of nitrates was guano, or bird feces, which was difficult to mass produce and collect. In 1910, the German chemist Fritz Haber discovered a process to convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia, a workable form of nitrogen, using high temperature and high pressure machines. The process revolutionized mass agriculture across the world, and its first major use was in the BASF labs in Ludwigshafen, Germany, in 1913. With the availability of extremely effective and extremely cheap fertilizer, farms began to expand. Farmers could produce incredible surpluses even in harsh conditions. The Haber process found other uses as well, particularly in military efforts in Germany during World War I. Since Chilean guano deposits, renowned for the high amount of nitrates, were owned entirely by the British, ammonia synthesis proved to be very important for the German war efforts. Today, over 450 million tons of nitrogen fertilizer are produced annually, and it is estimated that 50% of all food grown on the planet is aided by this fertilizer.
Contributed by Mitchell Turino
Course: Modern Global Environmental History
Instructor: Dr. Wilko Graf von Hardenberg
University of Wisconsin–Madison, US
- Smil, Vaclav. Creating the Twentieth Century: Technical Innovations of 1867-1914 and Their Lasting Impact. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
- Smil, Vaclav. Enriching the Earth: Fritz Haber, Carl Bosch, and the Transformation of World Food Production. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2004.