The Haber process is the place where textbook chemistry meets global food security and lots of environmental concerns, so it's a very satisfying topic for me to write about, as I can expand from molecules to global issues, and even recycle some of the things I learned during my studies. I've recently done a C&I feature on modern attempts to improve on Haber and dreams of an ammonia economy, and also reviewed more Haber biographies than I care to remember (eg this one), but the big nitrogen feature taking the whole environmental and food security problems was this one in 2012, which is in the open archives:
We need to talk about nitrogen
Until the advent of the Haber–Bosch synthesis 100 years ago, guano was the main source of nitrogen fertiliser, ensuring that reactive nitrogen ran in closed natural cycles. (Photo: Joan Thirlaway.)
No comments:
Post a Comment