World situation
At the beginning of the 20th century, nitrates were in high demand for both agricultural fertilisers and for nitric acid which is used mainly for explosive production. However at this time the only source of nitrates for the production of these entities was from natural deposits such as that available in Chile, where the guano (bird droppings which contained fish whose muscles decompose into nitrates) are located, 1.5m high and 350 km long. As world population increased, so did the use of fertilizers. Using fertilizer with high nitrogen content provided a good crop yield. This caused some scientists in the 19th century to begin to worry about the depletion of the sources of nitrogen for chemical fertilizer.
At the beginning of the 20th century Europe's growing population had created a demand for an increase in agricultural production. Nitrates, used in industrial fertilizer, required ammonia for their manufacture. However, there was a shortage of naturally......
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Approximate Word Count: 1061
Approximate Pages: 5 (260 words per double-spaced page) |