Matt Bracken crystallizes the perils of the age, and the future is nigh.

Nighest is winter. What will the winter bring? I hesitate to imagine. Doubtless, winter will bring cold, and with cold, the human need for warmth, one of Ice Age Farmer's three goals for his fellow man: food, abundance, warmth  

Let's see what's happening with "warmth" in the news, and the predictable scarcity or even lack thereof in the months ahead.

From today's The Daily Mail:

Here comes your £2,000 energy bill: Soaring prices could push average annual charge through the barrier for the first time as Putin holds UK over a barrel and Britain braces for blackouts  

The "soaring prices" and "gas crisis" comes

as Vladimir Putin was accused of holding Europe to ransom. Experts said the Russian president had substantial scope to boost gas supplies to the West – but he was using the issue as leverage in a bid to win approval for a new pipeline.  

Not sure which came first, the gas crisis or Putin holding Europe to ransom, but they go together now.

Next up, another Russian energy story today, this one about an explosion and fire at a Gazprom facility in eastern Russia, one of the largest gas processing plants in the world, whose main customer is China.

The fire is out, but, as Energy Voice reports

All works at Gazprom’s (MCX: GAZP – 369.16 RUB) Amur Gas Processing plant, which supplies China through the Power of Siberia pipeline, have been stopped following the explosion.

Putin has it both ways: a squeeze on gas to Europe, and a squeeze on gas to China.

Oh, but that explosion and fire was just an accident...?

Maybe so -- just as the fire in August at another Gazprom gas plant, this one in northern Russia and supplying Europe, might have been an accident, too.

RFERL reported on that fire:

Siberian Fire Limits Gas Exports to Europe

Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom said on August 6 it had slowed gas shipments abroad after fire struck a processing plant in western Siberia.

No one was hurt in the fire, which happened at a facility near Novy Urengoy.

Russian media said transports of natural gas via Belarus and Poland were already decreased to around 1 million cubic meters per day.

Gazprom had already scheduled lower volumes via the Yamal-Europe pipeline that runs from the Yamal Peninsula via Belarus to Germany for the last quarter of 2021.

Authorities and company officials were investigating the cause of the fire, which happened at a gas-processing facility that is already scheduled for replacement.

How convenient, I mean, I can't believe that happened.

Russia rises as the world shivers?