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Food is Made from Natural Gas
by Felix Salmon
Apr 22, 2008
Apr 22, 2008
Fertilizer production is second only to petroleum refining when it comes to industrial use of natural gas in the United States: 97 percent of the fertilizer applied to crops is manufactured from natural gas. With spiking energy costs, fertilizer manufacturers are opting to close their doors and instead sell their natural gas supplies.
The Haber-Bosch revolution, which produced vast amounts of cheap nitrogen to use as fertilizer to boost crop yields, feed the planet, and prove Malthus wong, was literally fuelled by natural gas. Given where oil prices are, natural gas is if anything undervalued. Yikes.
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