Re: What are the economic and technological implications of sulfuric acid?

According to Greenwood and Earnshaw's Chemistry of the Elements (Pergamon Press, 1984), "Sulfuric acid is the world's most important industrial chemical and is the cheapest bulk acid available in every country of the world." The production and use of sulfuric acid will therefore be a strong indicator of a country's industrial vigor, especially in industries associated with chemical manufacture -- chemical producers or their customers.

Lots of industrial processes require acids, either for the process itself or to neutralize the waste products. Again, from Chemistry of the Elements:

"Current US usage is dominated by fertilizer production (65%) followed by chemical manufacture, metallurgic uses, and petroleum refining (~5% each). In the UK the distribution of uses is more even: only 30% of the H₂SO₄ manufactured is used in the fertilizer industry, but 18% goes on paints, pigments and dyestuff intermediates, 16% on chemicals manufacture, 12% on soaps and detergents, 10% on natural and manmade fibers, and 2.5% on metallurgical applications. Petroleum refining accounts for only 1% of the H₂SO₄ in the UK."