“We need a sustained period of boredom. Boris always seems to be fighting something.” Alinea Consulting founding partner Iain Parker is speaking days after dire warnings were made about a couple of fertiliser plants in Cheshire and Teesside shutting down because of soaring energy costs. Up to that point, most would have been forgiven for thinking: “So what?”

Well, it turns out that they produce rather a lot of carbon dioxide, a gas that provides the fizz in a can of pop or beer, sedates pigs before they’re slaughtered to become pork chops and bacon sandwiches, vacuum-packs foodstuffs like bread, meat and salads, refrigerates products and is even used by surgeons during operations. In other words, a shortage of the gas affects our day-to-day lives considerably.

Read more…