September update: More Covid restrictions eased but Covid and Brexit create new problems

With children back to school early in the month the crowds in Cornwall began to dissipate, and so did the Covid infection rate. This had been over 800 per 100,000 at the end of August, the highest in the country, but began diminishing early in the month, and by the end of the month was 290 per 100,000 (just 100 times higher than 4 months ago!).

With social distancing no longer mandatory, as over 80% of UK adults have now been fully vaccinated, crowds lined the roads on the 5th of the month as Cornwall hosted the Tour of Britain, elite cyclists travelling 170 kilometres through the Cornish countryside. Starting in Penzance, and ending in Bodmin, Falmouth was on the route, the cyclists passing along the Seafront and around Pendennis Point.

Tour of Britain cyclists on a misty Falmouth seafront

The Cornish Mining Sundowner was back at Falmouth's Chain Locker pub for the first time in 19 months and it was good to hear that face to face teaching would be starting again at Camborne School of Mines the following week, so the feelings were that things were gradually getting back to normal. However, in removing many restrictions, the Government warned that some restrictions might have to be imposed in the winter if cases started to rise again, so although there is much confusion as to where we are going, it is safe to say that the pandemic is not yet over.

A combination of Covid and Brexit (probably more the latter) has led to a desperate shortage of haulage drivers, and many supermarket shelves have been empty and petrol supplies to garage forecourts have led to panic buying. In one of its famous U-turns the Government a few days ago granted temporary visas for foreign haulage drivers and poultry farm workers, but what next- care workers, hospitality workers? It will be interesting to see if these foreign workers take up this generous offer, after having been told, after Brexit, that they were no longer welcome, but can return now until December 24th before being shown the door again.

Are we seeing a slow erosion of Brexit? Regardless of what the UK government says about this being a global crisis due to Covid, Brexit and its consequences are news all over the globe because what is happening here isn’t happening there.

The New European #261

Interestingly there has also been a shortage of carbon dioxide, which is used in the food and drink industry. The carbon dioxide is mainly a by-product of fertiliser production, but fertiliser factories have been halting production due to soaring natural gas prices. The irony of this is that there is apparently no shortage of CO2 in the atmosphere, and expensive options have been put forward to mitigate the rises in content of this greenhouse gas.

The mining and metallurgical industries are major producers of CO2, and expensive carbon capture and storage is one of the prime options for reducing the carbon footprint of these essential industries. Much research is taking place in this field, but a question I asked on social media was wouldn't research on carbon capture and then re-use be a more obvious route?  There are some interesting responses on LinkedIn from those actively involved in such research.

The Times 23rd September

And finally, congratulations to MEI's Amanda, who a couple of weeks' ago undertook a tough 25 km trek in the Brecon Beacons in South Wales. The route took her and her friend Jill to the  summit of South Wales’ highest peak, Pen y Fan.

Amanda was fundraising for First Light, a charity supporting people in the south-west who have been affected by domestic abuse and sexual violence. She is currently training with them to become a volunteer mentor.

Amanda and Jill

September has been yet another "interesting" month, and with energy prices increasing due to high gas prices, and long queues for petrol,  October is also likely to be an interesting month.

The Times, September 29th

@barrywills