How we are addicted to artificial fertilizers and what to do about it

“What is the most important invention of the twentieth century? Aeroplanes, nuclear energy, space flight, television and computers will be the most common answers. Yet none of these can match the synthesis of ammonia from its elements. The world might be better off without Microsoft and CNN, and neither nuclear reactors nor space shuttles are critical to human well-being. But the world’s population could not have grown from 1.6 billion in 1900 to today’s seven billion without the Haber–Bosch process. Much of the food we eat is grown with some form of synthetic chemical fertilizer derived from the Haber-Bosch process. …read more