• There is an official lifting of a moratorium on shale gas fracking in Britain.
• It’s in place since 2019.
• Improving the nation’s energy supply was a “essential priority.”

The official lifting of a moratorium on shale gas fracking in Britain, which had been in place since 2019, was announced with the statement that improving the nation’s energy supply was a “essential priority.”

Jacob Rees-Mogg, the secretary for business and energy, stated that all energy sources must be investigated, therefore “it’s right that we’ve removed the halt to realize any prospective sources of domestic gas.”

Strengthening our energy security is a vital priority, he continued, in light of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and energy weaponization.

Fracking, a procedure that releases shale oil and gas by blasting water, sand, and chemicals underground under high pressure, was outlawed after the industry regulator claimed it was impossible to forecast the size of earthquakes it might cause.

According to the regulations, fracking operations had to be suspended whenever it resulted in an earthquake of magnitude 0.5 or greater. Scientists predicted that this threshold would need to be raised if Britain were to establish a fracking sector.

According to a study of permitted levels of seismic activity published on Thursday, because there has been little exploration to date, the hazards are not well understood.

In order to advance studies on how shale gas may be properly mined in areas with local support, the administration claimed that lifting the prohibition would enable drilling to resume and more data to be acquired.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said that it will support a fresh round of oil and gas licencing that would award 100 additional licenses the next month.

Additionally, it released a scientific evaluation of shale gas extraction that was commissioned earlier this year by the British Geological Survey.

The study acknowledged that our knowledge of UK geology and onshore shale resources is currently inadequate as well as the difficulties modelling geological activity in the occasionally complicated geology present in UK shale areas, according to the statement.

Environmentalists claim that Truss is reneging on his predecessor Boris Johnson’s unwavering pledge to bring the UK’s carbon emissions to zero by the year 2050. They claim that this process contaminates water supplies, harms wildlife, triggers earthquakes, and adds to climate change.

Truss “is dedicated to net zero,” according to government spokesman Max Blain, but getting there “does involve using transition fuels like oil and gas.”

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