Mass Panic Over Energy, Yet We Give Up Our Food Security Without a Murmur
The closure of Britain’s last Haber-Bosch plant, which produced ammonia vital for the creation of fertilisers and explosives, symbolises the country’s growing dependence on imports and the broader trend of deindustrialization, says Ed Conway in the Times. Here’s an excerpt:
What is the single most consequential invention in modern human history? It’s 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’t be alive without it.
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 – from which we make fertiliser (and explosives).
Nearly everything you eat will contain nitrogen made this way. Actually it gets wilder than that, because more or less half the nitrogen inside your body (and there’s quite a lot, not least in every strand of your DNA) is nitrogen from a Haber-Bosch plant.
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’s hard to think of anything quite so important for our survival as a species.
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 — it hasn’t appeared in a single national newspaper report — 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 nitrogen fertiliser imported from abroad.
This has, in fairness, been a long time coming. The plant in question – a site in Billingham, Teesside, owned by the American firm CF Fertilisers – 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. …
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 – 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.
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.
Worth reading in full.
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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. But we’ll be carbon neutral (whatever that stupidity means), which is the important thing. If a few million people have to suffer lower standards of living, well that’s a price worth paying to show the world how it’s done. Because we know that Britain’s emissions are tiny fraction of the entire world’s. So presumably the mission is to set an example for the rest of the world that actually does all the polluting to follow voluntarily, which I’m sure it will. I have no doubt that Nigeria, India, China, Indonesia etc will all put the brakes on their industrial and economic development when they see the shining example set in Britain. They’ll be so inspired they’ll go: yes, we’re going to impoverish out people and keep them dow, it’s worth it because we believe in the CO2 climate thermostat theory. It’s unproven, but we believe to because plucky old Britain believes it so much they… Read more »
In the case of fertilizers, “if a few million people have to suffer lower standards of living” means “have to starve to death.” The chances are we’ll find ways, like the other rich nations, of diverting fertilizers to us and away from the poor world, so we’ll hear of millions dying in famines abroad and blame climate change, rather than the real cause.
The madness continues.
The politicians are not mad, they are well rewarded for delivering the agendas of powerful organisations and rich people.
it is those who vote for them that are mad.
As long as sufficient credulous people keep voting for establishment parties then why would those parties curtail the pursuit of their all consuming, ideological environmental odyssey?
Some organisations won’t be too worried about the closure: https://www.soilassociation.org/causes-campaigns/fixing-nitrogen-the-challenge-for-climate-nature-and-health/
I’m a member of it, and haven’t bought any traditional artificial fertiliser via that process for years.
With all due respect John you are not seeking to feed millions.
Maybe not Hux, but we’ve all been guilty of outsourcing our food production thus making us vulnerable to these evil machinations. Organic gardening principles combined with electroculture principles has huge potential to increase crop yield without resorting to artificial fertilisers. Electroculture is something which was widely known about in the 19th Century yet when artificial fertilisers from chemical companies needed a ready market, this knowledge was suppressed & hidden by the likes of Rockerfeller… Do you see a pattern of natural knowledge benefitting the little man & woman being hidden for a wealthy businessman to profit & become even wealthier happening again & again? An act of true rebellion is for those of us with access to even a small patch of land is to sow some seeds (open pollinated seed which can be saved & is free from the Frankenstein modification). If everyone who is able to do this did, then it would increase our food security. I’m nearing the end of a process to reclaim control of my CQV Trust & am actively looking for a property with land so that I can grow vegetables sufficient for my needs & for a good number of my local community.… Read more »
I wonder whether your comments will be as unpopular as mine! However, those farms that adopt a more “Organic” route will likely be less vulnerable to market pricing for products that rely on the oil trade and the like.
I’ve had 4 small raised beds put in this spring – 1.2m x .8m each.
I have an electroculture antenna in one of the beds.
I have never had 100% germination of parsnip seeds before using this & have already been harvesting parsnips to thin them out so that half the roots can mature further. My leeks are huge, carrots also doing well & apart from blasted slugs & snails munching their way through the runner bean flowers, am getting a good crop of beans too. None of the seedlings were munched by slugs or snails.
Sweet peppers in a mini greenhouse with an antenna in each pot are doing really well, despite the blasted chemtrails blocking out the sun.
Electroculture in crop trials has increased crop yield by between 50 & well over 100%.
Well worth exploring for yourself.
https://www.electroculturevandoorne.com/#/
The fact that you drivel on about chemtrails doesn’t exactly enhance your credibility.
If you wnjoy growing food as a hobby, then bully for you, I enjoy it myself.
If you want to use whatever methods, equipments, magic, that’s all fabulous.
If you pretend that this can be done at scale to properly feed everyone in the UK, even those without so much as a windowbox, at prices that they can afford, then you have a HUGE problem.
And despite our Beloved Leaders best efforts, we are still a reasonably wealthy Country. What’s the plan for the rest of the world?
Prove this will genuinely benefit the peoples of the World ( or even just the UK), BEFORE ending what we know works.
I stand with JohnK! Curious to see your comment being downvoted so much – You’re not saying anything Mollinson, Holmgren, Fukuoka or Vananda Shiva would disagree with! Is it because most people don’t understand organic and regenerative food production and/or have swallowed the industrial farming mantra that organic/regen food production simply can’t meet demand? Like you I haven’t used artificial fertiliser for decades yet still manage to have plenty of good, healthy crops, basically because of good soil husbandry. Yes I know, Hux, I’m not feeding the world but there are numerous organisations around the world which are helping farmers to use and nurture what they’ve got rather than being forever reliant on chemicals, which in any case destroy the soil microbiome and need increasing quantities added to maintain production. Good quote from Zero Budget Farming which explains why – ‘Prevailing agricultural practices such as mono-cropping decrease soil moisture content, causing tremendous stress on water resources. Agriculture, today, accounts for almost 70 per cent of the world’s freshwater consumption. The use of external inputs by adoption of uniform, hybridised, and genetically modified crop varieties erodes genetic diversity of seeds, and reduces their capacity to adapt to changing climatic conditions. These… Read more »
i didn’t understand the down votes either . i ‘m with you both! just can’t write as well
An allotment holder told me that if a dozen people petitioned the local council demanding the provision of allotments for their community that council had a legal obligation to provide one in their parish.
To my shame, in a book I wrote a few years ago, I included the Haber-Bosch process as one of my examples of how exploiting the planet caused untold harm, in this case through overpopulation. For some reason, the rather obvious fact that the world population grew solely because millions of children were not dying in infancy from malnutrition (remember those old Oxfam pictures?) escaped me.
Having food to feed your family is, in the scheme of things, quite good.
Sustainable regenerative agriculture is a great idea, it can be done and a number of farmers are moving that way. Indeed in Holland some of the farmers are saying that they can shift to a low Nitrogen emissions regenerative style of agriculture over a 10 to 20 year period. The issue is that the eco-zealots want it done tomorrow, 10-20 years is not acceptable.
At the moment I am just having a coffee break whilst working on my veg patch and yes with a home or allotment veg plot you can be regenerative and not need artificial fertiliser. But doing this on a 1000 acre farm is not an easy task.
i think what we need is many more smaller organic [ with animals ] farms like the old days. we used to buy direct from a farmer growing up who would deliver food to the city, was great
I scrolled exactly to the point of
Crops for animal feed use 80% of all nitrogen inputs in Europe.
In front of that, there was exactly no information, just run-of-the-mill climate change waffle using another gas someone hates for some reason. This line provides the answer who that someone is, namely, someone producing plastic food (or the best approximation of that he can mange) for shame-selling to so-called vegans.
Usual answer applies: Eat your own plastic, nobody’s stopping you. But don’t expect me to buy it.
Can’t we, for once, have a cunning plan which actually works and demonstrates benefits ( including, hopefully lower costs), BEFORE we throw out the old method and apparatus?
i read about the soil association it’s great ,i agree i think organic is the way to go small truly organic farms [and not those hydroponic indoor behemoths they tout as organic ]
or huge 10,000 cow ‘organic’ dairies where they feed the cows corn and soy
the organic consumers association here in the usa and the organic eye are good too but the soil association was much earlier i think
the farmers i buy form the cows are 100% grass fed no soy or corn ever GMO or not
so this thing about growing crops to feed cows and pigs is about the wrong way and not the whole truth .
And what’s the betting that within a couple of years imports of fertiliser to this country will remarkably become unavailable or so expensive as to drive food prices through the roof and thus impverishing millions, undermining their health even further.
Oh, the depopulation plan is coming together nicely.
And if we can get any, where will it come from?……….Russia?
The Climate Change Act and Net Zero have pushed up energy prices such that we are no longer competitive in energy intensive industries like chemicals and metals. This is hollowing out industry and communities and putting at risk our food and our ability to defend ourselves.
The first party to ditch Net Zero will win the Red Wall, because it will allow cheaper energy, rejuvenation of industry and reversal of social decay.
https://davidturver.substack.com/p/ditch-net-zero-win-red-wall
I think that’s the point with the Climate Change Act, Net Zero crap: it’s a consciously designed political time bomb. No party is going to want to be seen to be the one to turn its back on that particular piece of virtue-signalling, but inevitably one or other party will have to pull the plug at some point. Each party keeps kicking decisions down the road as our infrastructure crumbles, hoping the other party will have to do it and reap the consequences, but they’re running out of road now. We’re not far off the mass closure of airports and the destruction of seafaring in the UK, along with bans on new cars and gas central heating. 18 months from now, new builds won’t have gas boilers and it will be illegal to have gas central heating fitted. Soon, many of won’t be able to heat our homes: gas and electricity will be unaffordable and councils will ban burning logs in a fireplace. I have major digestive problems (runs in the family) and I’m gluten-intolerant, so I already have to be careful what I eat. The powers that be won’t care about people like me when they try to push… Read more »
Super comment, Dom75.
Ditching Net Zero would carry the country.
We’ll have to start fracking for white hydrogen.
It’s all about giving British people equality: we’ll all be equally dead of starvation! The Telegraph had an article the other day saying anyone under 50 should flee the country. If I didn’t have elderly parents to look after, I probably would too! It’s like the elitists in power have decided they want to destroy the country. There’s obviously a profit for them in causing mass starvation and no power supplies.
i buy from wonderful amish farmers they don’t need to buy fertilizer , theirs arrives courtesy of the cows and chickens and pigs on the farm! [ i didn’t read the whole article so not sure if it mentioned that kind of ‘free’ fertilizer ]
In the UK I had an allotment. Used mushroom compost – very productive crops from using this. Fed a lot of people who all said that my stuff was very tasty.
Someone had chickens there and we were all after him for his chicken poop.
Slugs and snails – I knew a chimney sweep and used his soot which was also a good fertiliser.
The allotment holder probably had hens, not chickens!
Sri Lanka wasn’t a great advertisement for this approach.
All power to the Amish. But can they feed the big American cities affordably?
from what i v’e read they could, look up the organic consumers association i think that’s where i read it. and ronnie there wrote a book with mercola about the plandemic so i especially liked him!
not just amish farmers i buy form another wonderful farm also organic with all kinds of animals and birds . the vegetable organic farmers i dont know if they also have animals
couldn’t believe it that they got their’ shots ‘ and were wearing masks!
With energy costs higher in this country than anywhere else it’s no surprise that chemical process industries are disappearing.
Another consequence of offshoring ammonia production is that we will be unable to make our own explosives. ‘Fixing’ nitrogen via the Haber process is an essential precursor to all those nitro-compounds used in ammunitions. Did anybody tell the MOD?
They have learned nothing from the supply chain disruption caused by war and pandemic
We have a golden opportunity to be self-sufficient in the essentials and more, surrounded by deep water, great human capital and established infrastructure, history. All being thrown or given away to those who will not appreciate it/destroy it.
Great human capital? We have become the laziest nation on the planet.
I strongly doubt that. Lazier than we were? For sure. Lazier than some? For sure. But laziest? Not quite. But it’s not just about laziness. People will work hard, with the right incentives. This country has achieved great things and a lot of the descendants of the people who achieved those great things are still here.
If any “lessons have been learnt” from the pandemic and the recent energy price hike and the impediments put in place by a peevish EU, it should have been that Britain needs to be as self sufficient as possible.
The lunatics must be in charge of the asylum, unless of course there are malign forces at work intent on undermining our independence – or is that a conspiracy too far?
The deliberate policy of becoming dependent on imports must be reversed. We must become self-sufficient in every possible aspect – food, energy, steel, manufacturing, currency. Relative cost and ‘being competitive in a global market’ are red herrings. Making and growing our own is the only effective buffer against international tyranny.
When the plant was first mothballed there was a shortage of CO2. Kwasi Kwarteng (I think it was he) – the Business Secretary anyway, said “Who knew a fertiliser factory would be so crucial to the nation’s economy?”
Yes, that is the depth of knowledge we have in government today. But it’s ok, we can always import avocados (yuck) from the drug barons in South America.