Food prices could jump by £1.7bn as the soaring cost of carbon dioxide – by as much as 3,000% - is adding further pressure to household pockets, according to Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) research.
Carbon dioxide is used in several sectors, especially in food and drink, including in slaughtering chickens and pigs, to fizz up soft drinks and beer, as well as in packaging.
The sector may have to soak up the surging prices if gas prices stay as high as they are, the recent data suggests.
Carbon dioxide per tonne of liquid is up an overwhelming 3,000% compared to a year ago – at £3,000 per tonne – compared with £100 in the comparative period in 2021.
Production at a key ammonia site, therefore, was temporarily stopped in August, Sky News reported.
"At current natural gas and carbon prices, CF Fertilisers UK's ammonia production is uneconomical, with marginal costs above £2,000 per tonne and global ammonia prices at about half that level," the owner of the site was cited as saying.
In the first quarter, pubs, supermarkets and farms already had to pay approximately 71% more for gas than in the comparative period of 2021.
Forty-year high inflation amid the cost-of-living crisis has disrupted carbon dioxide production, meaning gas-reliant industries were primarily impacted.