The earthquake risk from fracking to extract shale gas is no worse than coal mining and can be mitigated, a UK Government review will be told.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng announced on Tuesday that he had commissioned a new report into the latest science around fracking as the Government considers new sources of energy in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
It comes ahead of the UK energy strategy, which will be unveiled tomorrow, and is expected to raise the prospect that fracking could return to England.
The strategy is thought to include plans for nuclear energy and renewable energy, as well as proposals to make homes more energy efficient and a route to increasing North Sea oil and gas production.
Some Conservatives from the Net Zero Scrutiny Group have also been pushing for a rethink of the Government's legally-binding target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
But the BBC says Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Business Secretary have both ruled that out.
A four-year study led by Newcastle University will inform the latest review of fracking.
It has concluded there are now better tools to predict and mitigate the earthquake risks.
Prof Richard Davies, a petroleum geologist and pro-vice chancellor at Newcastle University, told the Telegraph that earthquakes resulting from fracking were unlikely to be a major risk given the UK's geology.
"We lived with them without much concern during the coal-mining era," he said.
"During coal production, vast numbers of earthquakes were created in the UK right up until the 1980s and the coal miners' strike. Effectively Margaret Thatcher stopped the earthquakes, and they were never very big. It's the same set of rocks."
He added: "The risk of seismicity is high, but the impact is low."
Fracking is the process of injecting a mixture of water, sand and chemicals at high pressure into cracks between rocks in order to release the trapped shale gas.
A moratorium was placed on fracking south of the border in 2019 after a magnitude 2.9 event during operations at a site run by Cuadrilla on Preston New Road, Lancashire, and a subsequent investigation which found that it was not possible to accurately predict the probability or magnitude of earthquakes.
But support for the industry has been reignited, particularly among some Tory backbenchers who argue that it could provide energy security in the wake of Russia's war in Ukraine, which has led to catastrophic price rises.
Mr Kwarteng on Tuesday said it was "absolutely right that we explore all possible domestic energy sources", given the energy crisis and ongoing demand for gas on the route to net zero.
But he said it would take "years of exploration and development before commercial quantities of gas could be produced" from fracking and it would not lead to lower prices in the near future.
He has asked the British Geological Survey to investigate whether there are new techniques that could reduce the risk and magnitude of seismic events in the UK.
There are thought to substantial amounts of shale gas reserves in the central belt of Scotland, but at the end of 2019 the Scottish Government set out a finalised policy of no support for unconventional oil and gas development, which includes fracking.
FTSE 100
Meanwhile the UK's top share index, the FTSE 100, was down 16 points at 7,597 shortly after opening this morning. It was ahead 54 points yesterday.
Brent crude futures were holding steady at $106.89 a barrel.
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