Fertiliser from air
Half the nitrogen in your body came from this process
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The Haber–Bosch process fixes atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia at high pressure and temperature. It broke the hard limit that natural nitrogen fixation had placed on food production, and is probably the single invention that has enabled the most human lives — an estimated four billion. The costs are substantial: the process consumes roughly 1–2 per cent of world energy, runoff causes algal blooms and ocean dead zones, and the same plants produced explosives for two world wars.
For children
Plants need nitrogen to grow, and although the air is full of it, plants cannot use it directly. Haber and Bosch found how to make fertiliser out of air. Without that invention, roughly half of us would not have enough food.
Connects to
Part of Terra Saga — the story of Earth on a timeline. terrasaga.org