Get ready for soaring food prices as the ‘war on farming’ gains steam to stop ‘climate change’

If the World Economic Forum (WEF) and its allies in government, media, and the environmental movement have their way, we will soon face serious food shortages and soaring prices in our grocery stores. The excuse? Their impossible goal is to try to stop the climate from changing.

In an effort to reduce nitrous oxide (N₂0), methane (CH₄), and of course, carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, all of which the WEF mistakenly blames for dangerous global warming, we are supposed to cut back on our use of nitrogen-based fertilizers, cull millions of burping and farting livestock and switch from fossil fuel-powered tractors and other modern farm equipment to subsistence and organic farming. If this ever comes about, it will be an unmitigated disaster. We built the modern world through the use of these wonderful technologies, so suddenly eliminating them would pull the rug out from under today’s 8 billion people, leading to mass starvation, war, and disease.

In this three-part series, I will explain that while plans to dramatically reduce N2O, CH4, and CO2 emissions are hopelessly misguided since none of these gases are causing climate problems, efforts to restrict these emissions will radically degrade our ability to feed the world’s growing population if they are not stopped.

This week, let’s examine the drive to reduce nitrous oxide N₂O from fertilizers.

Many people consider aircraft, nuclear energy, space flight, television, and computers the most important inventions of the 20th century. But they would be wrong. The removal of any of these important developments, while inconvenient indeed, would not lead to widespread death across the planet. There is, however, one invention that, if eliminated, would cause the starvation of billions of people. That invention is synthetic fertilizers created by what is known as the Haber-Bosch process, which is the synthesis of ammonia from its elements. Ammonia is a key component in various nitrogen-based fertilizers.

So, why is this important?

All human beings must eat ten essential amino acids to synthesize the body proteins needed for tissue maintenance and growth. Indeed, amino acids are often called the building blocks of proteins. Almost 90% of the amino acids in our diet come from agricultural crops and animals fed on crops (the rest comes from aquatic species and animals grazing on grassland). Now, the yield of intensive agriculture is practically always limited by the availability of nitrogen.

Nitrogen plays vital roles in plant growth, such as:

1. It is part of the chlorophyll molecule, which gives plants their green color. And, of course, chlorophyll is essential for photosynthesis, the way in which plants convert sunlight, water, and CO₂ into energy (sugars). Vigorous growth is only possible with sufficient nitrogen to allow high photosynthesis rates.
2. Nitrogen stimulates cell division and cell elongation, extending the growth period.
3. Nitrogen is a key component of proteins, which are needed for various plant functions. Without adequate nitrogen, plants cannot form proteins, complete photosynthesis, or use carbohydrates effectively, and so they wither and die.

Without nitrogen, there would be no life as we know it on Earth.

Crops get their nitrogen naturally when bacteria and single-celled organisms in the soil convert atmospheric nitrogen (N₂) into biologically usable forms, such as ammonia (NH₃), which are taken up by plants when they absorb water. Counting plant and animal residues, relatively stable soil organic matter and in living soil organisms, mainly microbes such as bacteria, we find that these sources only add up to about half the global need for nitrogen: the other half must come from inorganic nitrogen fertilizers.

And this is where the discovery of German chemist Fritz Haber became so important. In fact, Haber received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918 for his invention of a method to synthesize ammonia (NH3) from nitrogen gas and hydrogen gas. Carl Bosch, Haber’s collaborator, scaled up the process for industrial use, and so today, the process is known as the Haber-Bosch process. A third of annual global food production uses ammonia from the Haber–Bosch process, and this supports almost half the world’s population. The Haber-Bosch process significantly boosted crop yields worldwide, revolutionizing agriculture by enabling large-scale nitrogen “fixation” with inorganic fertilizers.

But now the World Economic Forum wants to dramatically reduce the use of inorganic fertilizers because, so they say, the nitrous oxide produced when microbes in the soil break down the nitrogen fertilizers that are not absorbed by the plants (i.e., that which is leached into soils, washed into nearby water or released as vapor into the atmosphere) is a threat to the climate. They are also concerned because producing fertilizers is an energy-intensive process and is responsible for almost 1.5% of total global CO₂ emissions.

The WEF cites a 2020 study that found that the global use of nitrogen fertilizers for food production could threaten efforts to keep global warming below the much-feared 2 degrees Celsius rise.

The WEF tells us that, at present, one-third of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions come from food production, and so it is “urgent” that we launch a “radical” and “comprehensive” transformation of the global food system.

So the Biden administration announced on July 23^rd that it would seek to curb U.S. emissions of nitrous oxide, kicking off the effort with an event that day amid announcements by industrial companies that are taking voluntary actions to cut emissions of the gas. Canada has gone completely off the deep end, setting a national target to reduce absolute greenhouse gas emissions associated with fertilizers by 30% below 2020 levels by 2030. Specifically addressed are nitrous oxide emissions, especially those linked to synthetic nitrogen fertilizer use.

Now, the WEF apparently thinks this can be done without threatening the food supply. In “Fertiliser emissions could be cut to ‘one-fifth of current levels’ by 2050,” they assert:

“Fertiliser emissions could be reduced to approximately one-fifth of current levels by 2050 without the need for developing new technologies, a new study finds.

“The research, published in Nature Food, looks at the production, trade and use of nitrogen fertilizers around the world to quantify their total greenhouse gas emissions.

“The study finds that, on its own, making nitrogen use in crops more efficient could halve the demand for synthetic fertilizers, which would reduce their overall emissions.

“Some of the other proposed actions include using renewable and nuclear energy to power production of fertilizers.

“By combining all available interventions, the researchers outline that emissions from nitrogen fertilizers could be cut by up to 84% by 2050, a higher figure than previously estimated.

“However, a co-author on the research tells Carbon Brief that this figure would be “very challenging” to achieve, “both economically and in terms of practical implementation”.

Now, that is an understatement. Next week, I will examine what the impact of these actions would be on our food supply and the financial bottom line for those involved in agriculture. It isn’t pretty!