3 Comments
User's avatar
Quipus Capital's avatar

I was surprised that synthetic nitrogen only makes half of the population possible. I would have thought it was much higher, like 80%.

Expand full comment
Commodity Conversations's avatar

The Haber Bosch process was only possible because fossil fuels provided the energy. You could argue that fossil fuels allowed the increase in population. Everything is about energy!

Expand full comment
Quipus Capital's avatar

True indeed. Vaclav Smil has an interesting chapter on fertilizers on his book How the World Really Works

Expand full comment