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Beer Shortages and Pig Pile-Ups: Fertilizer Crisis Rattles European Food Chain

posted by hubie on Monday September 12 2022, @11:11PM   Printer-friendly
from the CAMRA-FTW dept.
News

upstart writes:

Beer and meat production take a hit as fertilizer plants shut down due to soaring energy prices:

Europe's soaring energy bills are triggering a wave of shutdowns at major fertilizer plants across the Continent, causing disruption for farmers, food manufacturers and — to the horror of bar owners everywhere — brewers of beer.

On Thursday, the world's largest fertilizer company Yara, based in Norway, announced a 50 percent cut to its ammonia-based urea and nitrogen fertilizer production in Europe, citing "record high prices."

[...] Fertilizer is not only vital for boosting crop soil fertility, but its production creates a byproduct, CO2 gas, which is used to add fizz to beer and soft drinks, supply hospitals for surgical procedures and allow animals to be slaughtered humanely.

Farmers, food manufacturers and even pub landlords are therefore deeply worried about the wider implications of a looming fertilizer crunch.

Carlsberg Polska, the third largest brewing company in Poland and subsidiary of the Danish multinational, told POLITICO it plans to stop beer production almost immediately — and that other brewers are bound to follow suit.

"Few people realize that carbon dioxide is a byproduct of fertilizer making. And it cannot be stored for a very long time, so we only have a few days' worth of reserves left," said Carlsberg Polska spokesperson Beata Ptaszyńska-Jedynak, who added that the company uses the CO2 to hermetically seal bottles, cans and kegs.

"We will be shutting down beer production any moment now ... but we aren't the only ones. Unless they have facilities to produce their own CO2, most beer companies will have to do the same."

[...] Ptaszyńska-Jedynak from Carlsberg Polska said there are also wider implications beyond beer and soft drinks, because CO2 is used for making products like dry ice, which is essential for preserving food during transport and storage.

"The situation is critical for every aspect of the food sector where CO2 is used," Ptaszyńska-Jedynak said.

[...] "Europe has always been a relatively high-cost producer" said Hansen from Fertilizers Europe. "We export a lot of specialty products to the rest of the world ... We are getting to a point where we can't export anymore."

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