Large Fierce Mammal

The ultimate “first world” problem, at least for the next few hours. Tempest in a beer mug or fart in a mitten? Source: Gasworld

As if the news hasn’t been serving up enough provocation for eyebrow raising, brow furrowing, and lip pursing to last us up to Yule, this Summer Solstice found us waking up to news out of Europe proclaiming CO2 shortage could leave beer drinkers flat — Supply in Europe runs thin just as World Cup boosts demand. Click the title for the whole sordid tale.

In a tone befitting reading of the daily funeral announcements, the article proclaims,

A British trade group says there’s a shortage of carbon dioxide in northern Europe, sparking fears that drinks may lack fizz just as thirsty soccer fans fill pubs for the World Cup.

Gavin Partington, director general of the British Soft Drinks Association, says the shortage is due to the closure of several production sites for various reasons, including seasonal maintenance. But industry publication Gasworld says the situation is worse this year because normal maintenance has coincided with technical issues at chemical plants that also produce carbon dioxide.

Yes, there is a publication called Gasworld, and if you learn nothing else from what you find here today, at least there’s that.

Yet I couldn’t help feeling we’ve been here before, and this problem may have already been solved a long time ago, in a shed in Tasmania …