What is fracking, the potential sites and why it's controversial
22.09.2022 - 15:09
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
New prime minister Liz Truss is facing a backlash after lifting the UK's ban on fracking in a bid to improve domestic gas supply.
The announcement came with the launch of Ms Truss' Energy Price Guarantee, freezing gas and electric prices at their current rates in a bid to ease the current cost of living crisis.
The UK had suspended all fracking since 2019 following a series of earth tremors, but business and energy secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg claims fracking is in the national interest and will make the country richer. He suggested current limits on acceptable levels of seismic activity are too restrictive and said the government is determined to “realise any potential sources of domestic gas”.
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Part of the reason gas prices have shot up this year is that the UK can no longer rely on Russia to supply gas and oil.
After the invasion of Ukraine, the UK and other NATO nations introduced trading sanctions against Russia, which included halting the trade of gas and oil. Fracking would allow the UK to produce its own gas and oil and not rely on trading with other nations, but what is it, and why is it so controversial?
What is fracking?
Hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking, is a way of extracting gas and oil from shale rock.
Shale rocks are deep under the surface of the Earth, and so the process involves drilling deep underground and pumping a mixture of water, sand, and chemicals down to fracture the rock and release the gas inside.
The practice was first banned in 2019 after campaigns by green groups and locals against any fracking wells that were being set up. The only company given consent to begin fracking was