Transcript

NARRATOR:

100 years ago, rapidly growing populations put pressure on farmers to grow more food. The traditional fertiliser, animal manure, wasn't enough. The one good source of the nitrates they needed was 8,000 miles away in Chile.

Guano, seabird droppings accumulated over thousands of years, were mined and shipped to Europe. And the reserves were running out. To the rescue came a German chemist. Like a latter day alchemist, Fritz Haber achieved a seemingly magical transformation. He fused nitrogen from the air and hydrogen from hot coke and steam and, hey, presto, ammonia, from which nitrates could easily be made. A saviour of the planet? Well, nothing's quite that simple.

Germany's ability to synthesise ammonia took on a new significance as the first world war began. Their sea routes to the vital Chilean guano were cut just as their explosives industry was demanding more and more of the material. Their front line guns were fed by a harbor's brainchild, conjured from air and water.