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> or other new rationing limits I did write this! Also you have no idea if there will be no shortage of gunpowder. Rationing gets applied where the shortages

by vasco 2y ago

> or other new rationing limits I did write this! Also you have no idea if there will be no shortage of gunpowder. Rationing gets applied where the shortages are, and the shortages are many times difficult to anticipate or predict. I get your point and agree it's more likely to be new items, but that's just a gut feeling. In reality shortages can happen on basic products that are easy to manufacture but which a country doesn't manufacture anymore, for example if it's not very profitable.

adastra22 2y ago
The contribution of animal fat to gunpowder (it is surprising that there is a connection!) is the nitrate content. Essentially the compost waste is turned into fertilizer, and from there to high explosives. Nitrate is NO3. It is produced 100% from the air, by a process which is exothermic. So it’s (almost) free, at the margin, or would be if not for the need of pure input gasses. A Haber-Bosch plant is a factory the size of a city that produces all the fertilizer or explosives you’d ever want, using nothing but air, water, and electricity as input. We can confidently say that this particular shortage won’t be an issue anymore.