"The best account of recent nitrogen flows in [[China]]’s agriculture shows that **about 60 percent of the nutrient available to the country’s crops comes from synthetic ammonia: feeding three out of five of the Chinese population thus depends on the synthesis of this compound**. "The corresponding global mean is about 50 percent. This dependence easily justifies calling **the Haber-Bosch synthesis of ammonia perhaps the most momentous technical advance in history.**" ([Location 1677](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B08SGC3TD3&location=1677)) --- **Tags** -- [[quotes]], [[innovation]], [[haber-bosch]], [[ammonia]], [[fertilisers]], [[food-production]] **Source** -- [[202412030828 - B - How the World Really Works]]