{"id":275599,"date":"2023-08-25T21:36:31","date_gmt":"2023-08-25T19:36:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=275599"},"modified":"2023-08-25T21:36:35","modified_gmt":"2023-08-25T19:36:35","slug":"mass-panic-over-energy-yet-we-give-up-our-food-security-without-a-murmur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=275599","title":{"rendered":"Mass Panic Over Energy, Yet We Give Up Our Food Security Without a Murmur"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From The Daily Sceptic<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0RICHARD ELDRED<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The closure of Britain\u2019s last Haber-Bosch plant, which produced ammonia vital for the creation of fertilisers and explosives, symbolises the country\u2019s growing dependence on imports and the broader trend of deindustrialization, says Ed Conway in the\u00a0Times<\/em>. Here\u2019s\u00a0an excerpt<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

What is the single most consequential invention in modern human history? It\u2019s tempting to vote for the aircraft or the motorcar, or maybe the computer or the internet, but if you ask me it has to be the Haber-Bosch process. This complex chemical reaction, devised by Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch in the early 20th century, is not universally famous. Yet nearly half of us wouldn\u2019t be alive without it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Haber and Bosch, a German scientist and engineer, were the duo who worked out how to capture nitrogen from the air and turn it into ammonia \u2013 from which we make fertiliser (and explosives).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly everything you eat will contain nitrogen made this way. Actually it gets wilder than that, because more or less half\u00a0the nitrogen inside your body (and there\u2019s quite a lot, not least in every strand of your DNA) is nitrogen from a Haber-Bosch plant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story of the past century, of a global population swelling to eight billion and beyond without running out of food, is the story of Haber-Bosch. Even if we gave over every acre of available land on this planet to agriculture, we could not grow enough food to keep us all alive without the nitrogen fertilisers made in Haber-Bosch plants. It\u2019s hard to think of anything quite so important for our survival as a species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which is why the following piece of news should give us all pause for thought: Britain is shutting down its only remaining Haber-Bosch plant. This may come as a surprise \u2014 it hasn\u2019t appeared in a single national newspaper report \u2014 but those who work in the business see it as a watershed moment. For the first time in a century this country will become entirely dependent on\u00a0nitrogen fertiliser<\/a>\u00a0imported from abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This has, in fairness, been a long time coming. The plant in question \u2013 a site in Billingham, Teesside, owned by the American firm CF Fertilisers \u2013 has been mothballed for a while. You need lots of hydrogen in those Haber-Bosch reactors, and the main way you get hydrogen is from natural gas; while gas prices have fallen since the invasion of Ukraine, they are nonetheless higher than they were a few years ago. Since nitrogen fertiliser is a natural gas product, CF has shifted production to America, where gas is more plentiful and cheap. \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now in one sense it might hardly seem to matter whether we get our fertilisers from Billingham or those overseas plants. Moreover, since ammonia manufacture involves burning natural gas, the closure will actually help Britain reduce its carbon footprint. Some point out that we have become too reliant on synthetic ammonia to fertilise our crops \u2013 and they have a point. And while the Haber-Bosch units will be closed, other bits of the Billingham plant will go on, since we still need to process the ammonia arriving from America. Only 40 jobs will be lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even so, it is a reminder that in an era when many countries are investing more in manufacturing and thinking harder about where they get stuff from, Britain is still deindustrialising, becoming more reliant on imports from overseas, more exposed if things suddenly run short.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Worth\u00a0reading in full<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The closure of Britain\u2019s last Haber-Bosch plant, which produced ammonia vital for the creation of fertilisers and explosives, symbolises the country\u2019s growing dependence on imports and the broader trend of deindustrialization, says Ed Conway in the\u00a0Times.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":275606,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691822092,691822093,691818902,691822094,691822095,691818154,691819496],"class_list":["post-275599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-ammonia","tag-billingham","tag-britain","tag-deindustrialisation","tag-haber-bosch","tag-net-zero","tag-nitrogen-fertiliser","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/00shutterstock-622253627.webp?fit=1066%2C693&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-19H9","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":383713,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=383713","url_meta":{"origin":275599,"position":0},"title":"\u00a32 Billion UK Hydrogen Plant\u00a0Cancelled","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"06\/19\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The Telegraph brings news of the latest setback for the green scam industry:","rel":"","context":"In \"energy industry\"","block_context":{"text":"energy industry","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=energy-industry"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0ChatGPT-Image-19.-Juni-2025-11_45_36.png?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0ChatGPT-Image-19.-Juni-2025-11_45_36.png?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0ChatGPT-Image-19.-Juni-2025-11_45_36.png?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0ChatGPT-Image-19.-Juni-2025-11_45_36.png?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":424524,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=424524","url_meta":{"origin":275599,"position":1},"title":"Germany\u2019s Chemical Reckoning: How Europe is Dismantling its Industrial Core","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/03\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"\"The Agonising Decline of One of Europe\u2019s Core Industries,\" describes Germany's chemical sector crisis as a symptom of broader self-inflicted industrial decline in Europe. Energy and environment policy analyst Tilak Doshi argues that Germany's once-dominant chemical industry- home to giants like BASF and a cornerstone of \"Made in Germany\" manufacturing-\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"BASF\"","block_context":{"text":"BASF","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=basf"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQOCFTak7yim8mqtCRTCGJNEKcCnIeckTeha4Fi5GpE6TfG92gR2rtDtVNOQAxH0tDrvPas8AGczboH-9lNijqEnkKxVVzdfUqOt04Br2lFhaFe9VL5Mdq4YRbDy0gp5.jpeg?fit=1200%2C662&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQOCFTak7yim8mqtCRTCGJNEKcCnIeckTeha4Fi5GpE6TfG92gR2rtDtVNOQAxH0tDrvPas8AGczboH-9lNijqEnkKxVVzdfUqOt04Br2lFhaFe9VL5Mdq4YRbDy0gp5.jpeg?fit=1200%2C662&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQOCFTak7yim8mqtCRTCGJNEKcCnIeckTeha4Fi5GpE6TfG92gR2rtDtVNOQAxH0tDrvPas8AGczboH-9lNijqEnkKxVVzdfUqOt04Br2lFhaFe9VL5Mdq4YRbDy0gp5.jpeg?fit=1200%2C662&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQOCFTak7yim8mqtCRTCGJNEKcCnIeckTeha4Fi5GpE6TfG92gR2rtDtVNOQAxH0tDrvPas8AGczboH-9lNijqEnkKxVVzdfUqOt04Br2lFhaFe9VL5Mdq4YRbDy0gp5.jpeg?fit=1200%2C662&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQOCFTak7yim8mqtCRTCGJNEKcCnIeckTeha4Fi5GpE6TfG92gR2rtDtVNOQAxH0tDrvPas8AGczboH-9lNijqEnkKxVVzdfUqOt04Br2lFhaFe9VL5Mdq4YRbDy0gp5.jpeg?fit=1200%2C662&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":442404,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=442404","url_meta":{"origin":275599,"position":2},"title":"Fertilizer Crisis Looms as Iran War Chokes Global Urea Supplies, Threatening Billions of Meals","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/03\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The Iran war's disruption of fertilizer (especially urea) and energy supplies has begun pushing global food prices higher, though the full effects are still unfolding and remain lagged.","rel":"","context":"In \"Haber-Bosch process\"","block_context":{"text":"Haber-Bosch process","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=haber-bosch-process"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0-Fertilizer-Crisis-Looms-as-Iran-War-Chokes-Global-Urea-Supplies-Threatening-Billions-of-Meals.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0-Fertilizer-Crisis-Looms-as-Iran-War-Chokes-Global-Urea-Supplies-Threatening-Billions-of-Meals.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0-Fertilizer-Crisis-Looms-as-Iran-War-Chokes-Global-Urea-Supplies-Threatening-Billions-of-Meals.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0-Fertilizer-Crisis-Looms-as-Iran-War-Chokes-Global-Urea-Supplies-Threatening-Billions-of-Meals.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0-Fertilizer-Crisis-Looms-as-Iran-War-Chokes-Global-Urea-Supplies-Threatening-Billions-of-Meals.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":351172,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=351172","url_meta":{"origin":275599,"position":3},"title":"The War on Fertiliser Comes to Britain","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"11\/14\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Having made an excellent start in trying to make British citizens both colder and poorer, the Net Zero fanatics in the new Labour Government are turning their attention to making them hungrier. New taxes on agricultural fertiliser could add \u00a3150 million to the costs of local farmers faced with a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"climate alarmism\"","block_context":{"text":"climate alarmism","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-alarmism"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/042797_1.jpg?fit=1024%2C682&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/042797_1.jpg?fit=1024%2C682&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/042797_1.jpg?fit=1024%2C682&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/042797_1.jpg?fit=1024%2C682&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":335326,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=335326","url_meta":{"origin":275599,"position":4},"title":"Claim: Climate Change is Causing \u201cWonky\u201d Vegetables in Europe","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"07\/02\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I think the Guardian is a little premature calling the problem a climate problem. Unusually wet Spring Time weather happens from time to time. While this year was unusual, some sources suggest\u00a0the record is still held by the Spring of 1983.","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/0-wonky-vegetables.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/0-wonky-vegetables.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/0-wonky-vegetables.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/0-wonky-vegetables.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/0-wonky-vegetables.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":399806,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=399806","url_meta":{"origin":275599,"position":5},"title":"Failures of the renewables transition are insults to taxpayers","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"09\/03\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Natural gas and crude oil\u00a0are commonly needed fossil fuels to manufacture insulation, wires, and computers used in all methods of generating electricity. This is because components of natural gas and oil are essential feedstocks for creating plastics, which are used for insulation and many computer parts. Fossil fuels are also\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Computers\"","block_context":{"text":"Computers","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=computers"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AQNDCiQA57RPyuRLBXAurpuYp88WHEFYdDzepIhC-TGGShDh6HGjNNIn_YQPdJRoC-5h-ez0NRLr2Ue617RUFUZf37n84H7HhmDNprfzwet80INc3N48GIW4vG_cXkPXkoSPQNHmQkbYFAuTaYSIjVfL_OPkPQ.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AQNDCiQA57RPyuRLBXAurpuYp88WHEFYdDzepIhC-TGGShDh6HGjNNIn_YQPdJRoC-5h-ez0NRLr2Ue617RUFUZf37n84H7HhmDNprfzwet80INc3N48GIW4vG_cXkPXkoSPQNHmQkbYFAuTaYSIjVfL_OPkPQ.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AQNDCiQA57RPyuRLBXAurpuYp88WHEFYdDzepIhC-TGGShDh6HGjNNIn_YQPdJRoC-5h-ez0NRLr2Ue617RUFUZf37n84H7HhmDNprfzwet80INc3N48GIW4vG_cXkPXkoSPQNHmQkbYFAuTaYSIjVfL_OPkPQ.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AQNDCiQA57RPyuRLBXAurpuYp88WHEFYdDzepIhC-TGGShDh6HGjNNIn_YQPdJRoC-5h-ez0NRLr2Ue617RUFUZf37n84H7HhmDNprfzwet80INc3N48GIW4vG_cXkPXkoSPQNHmQkbYFAuTaYSIjVfL_OPkPQ.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AQNDCiQA57RPyuRLBXAurpuYp88WHEFYdDzepIhC-TGGShDh6HGjNNIn_YQPdJRoC-5h-ez0NRLr2Ue617RUFUZf37n84H7HhmDNprfzwet80INc3N48GIW4vG_cXkPXkoSPQNHmQkbYFAuTaYSIjVfL_OPkPQ.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=275599"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":275609,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275599\/revisions\/275609"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/275606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=275599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=275599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=275599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}