Production of carbon dioxide for use in producing meat, beer and fizzy drinks has been secured for at least three months under a new industry deal.
Meat processors, brewers, bakers and soft drink producers all use CO2 in making and packaging their goods. It is also required for the humane slaughter of animals including pigs and chickens, and is used by hospitals and nuclear power plants.
A short government statement said a new deal would enable CF Fertiliser plant in Billingham, County Durham, to continue to operate.
The plant was scheduled for potential shutdown this week after a three-month emergency deal brokered by the government came to an end on Monday.
That deal was prompted by a crisis in CO2 supplies in late September as high energy prices combined with annual maintenance shutdowns to bring UK production to a near halt.
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The government was forced to use taxpayer money to fund a three-week bailout for CF Industries, which accounts for 60% of the UK’s CO2 supplies, to stave off supply chain chaos before the first three-month deal was agreed.
The business department said in a statement: “The government welcomes the industry’s agreement which is in the best interest of businesses.”
It added that in the longer term the government would “like to see the market take measures to improve resilience, and we are engaging on ways this could happen”.
