Enriching the Earth : Fritz Haber, Carl Bosch and the Transformation of World Food Production

by Vaclav Smil

• ISBN13: 9780262194495
• ISBN10: 026219449X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-12-26
• Publisher: Mit Pr

Summary

The industrial synthesis of ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen has been of greater fundamental importance to the modern world than the invention of the airplane, nuclear energy, space flight, or television. The expansion of the world's population from 1.6 billion people in 1900 to today's six billion would not have been possible without the synthesis of ammonia. In Enriching the Earth, Vaclav Smil begins with a discussion of nitrogen's unique status in the biosphere, its role in crop production, and traditional means of supplying the nutrient. He then looks at various attempts to expand natural nitrogen flows through mineral and synthetic fertilizers. The core of the book is a detailed narrative of the discovery of ammonia synthesis by Fritz Haber -- a discovery scientists had sought for over one hundred years -- and its commercialization by Carl Bosch and the chemical company BASF. Smil also examines the emergence of the large-scale nitrogen fertilizer industry and analyzes the extent of global dependence on the Haber-Bosch process and its biospheric consequences. Finally, it looks at the role of nitrogen in civilization and, in a sad coda, describes the lives of Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch after the discovery of ammonia synthesis.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
Transforming the World	xiii
Nitrogen in Agriculture	1	(20)
Discovering the Basics
Discovering Nitrogen	2	(3)
Nitrogen in Crop Production	5	(8)
Nitrogen and Legumes	13	(3)
Completing the Nitrogen Cycle	16	(5)
Traditional Sources of Nitrogen	21	(18)
Preindustrial Agricultures
Recycling of Organic Matter	22	(3)
Farmyard Manures	25	(3)
Cultivation of Legumes	28	(3)
Nitrogen Balances in Traditional Farming	31	(4)
Limits to Recycling and Legume Cultivation	35	(4)
New Sources of the Nutrient	39	(22)
Searching for Fixed Nitrogen
Guano	40	(3)
Sodium Nitrate	43	(5)
By-product Ammonia from Coking	48	(3)
Synthesis of Cyanamide	51	(2)
Electric Arc Process	53	(2)
Plant Nutrients and Future Food Supply	55	(6)
A Brilliant Discovery	61	(22)
Fritz Haber's Synthesis of Ammonia
Haber's Predecessors	61	(4)
Fritz Haber	65	(3)
Haber's First Experiments with Ammonia	68	(2)
Nernst and Haber	70	(4)
BASF and Haber	74	(3)
High-Pressure Catalytic Synthesis	77	(6)
Creating an Industry	83	(26)
Carl Bosch and BASF
Carl Bosch	85	(2)
Designing High-Pressure Converters	87	(6)
Finding New Catalysts	93	(4)
Producing the Feedstocks and Oxidizing Ammonia	97	(2)
The First Ammonia Plant at Oppau	99	(4)
Ammonia Synthesis for War	103	(6)
Evolution of Ammonia Synthesis	109	(24)
Diffusion and Innovation
Slow Diffusion of Ammonia Production: 1918--1950	111	(5)
Expansion and Changes Since 1950	116	(2)
Natural Gas-Based Ammonia Synthesis	118	(4)
Single-Train Plants with Centrifugal Compressors	122	(5)
Continuing Innovation	127	(6)
Synthetic Fertilizers	133	(22)
Varieties and Applications
Nitrogen Fertilizers	134	(4)
Fertilizer Applications: Global Views	138	(5)
Fertilizer Nitrogen in Global Crop Production	143	(2)
Regional and National Perspectives	145	(7)
The Most Productive Agroecosystems	152	(3)
Our Dependence on Nitrogen	155	(22)
Agricultures and Populations
How Many People Does Fertilizer Nitrogen Feed?	156	(5)
Human Protein Requirements	161	(3)
Nitrogen in U.S. Agriculture	164	(3)
Nitrogen in Chinese Farming	167	(5)
Growing Dependence during the Twenty-first Century	172	(5)
Consequences of the Dependence	177	(22)
Human Interference in Nitrogen's Biospheric Cycle
Intensifying the Global Cycling of Nitrogen	178	(2)
What Happens to Fertilizer Nitrogen	180	(4)
Nitrogen Losses in Modern Farming	184	(4)
Excess Nitrogen and Human Health	188	(4)
Nitrogen and Natural Ecosystems	192	(7)
Nitrogen and Civilization	199	(24)
Managing the Nitrogen Cycle
What Has Been Accomplished	201	(5)
More Efficient Fertilizing	206	(5)
Stabilized Populations	211	(3)
Rational Diets	214	(3)
A Long View	217	(6)
Postscript	223	(10)
Appendixes	233	(20)
Notes	253	(76)
Name Index	329	(2)
Subject Index	331