Calcium Nitrate

Calcium Nitrate (ammonium-free) Ca(NO₃)₂, is a colorless, hydrophillic salt that is most well-known as a fertilizer. Calcium nitrate is also used to create many other useful products involved in medical, waste water, and chemical applications.

Solar power plants
Calcium nitrate (along with potassium nitrate and sodium nitrate) is a often a key component of both binary and ternary solar power molten salt, which functions as a heat transfer fluid that allows the transfer and storage of solar thermal power. This molten salt can be tapped into at will to generate steam and steam-powered energy similar to how coal can be used to power steam-driven devices.

Additional Notes:
* Nitrocalcite is the name for the mineral of hydrated calcium nitrate which can be found naturally in soil, rocks, or as a whitish efflorescence on the walls of caves.
* On farms, calcium nitrate has been leeched from urine and manure during the process of making potassium nitrate. The two most well-known methods for doing this are the French method and the Swiss method (this method only requires sand and urine!).
* Calcium nitrate tetrahydrate is incredibly endothermic solution, and can be found in certain brands of regenerable cooling packs.