A Brief History of the Fertilizer Nitrogen

The history of the fertilizer nitrogen (N) is important, because it includes two very important events in the development of chemistry. The synthesis of ammonia is considered as one of the greatest scientific discovery of twentieth century which led to the award of two Nobel Prizes in Chemistry to two German chemists; Fitzgerald Haber in 1919 and Carl Bosch in 1931. A significant increase in food production in the world is ascribed to the fertilizer N that saved many from hunger, misery and mortality, especially in Asian countries, where population growth has been too fast. However, the fertilizer N has also been responsible for environmental degradation, by increasing nitrate (NO3) content in ground waters, inland waters including lakes and rivers and marine waters leading to mortality of fish and other water creatures. Some N is lost as nitrous oxide (N2O), which is responsible for the depletion of the ozone layer in the earth's atmosphere. Efforts are therefore underway to develop more efficient N fertilizers.