Fracking industry ‘lobbies Government to allow it to cause BIGGER EARTHQUAKES under homes’ to make the industry commercially viable after PM Liz Truss lifts ban on new drilling sites to boost energy domestic production

• The moratorium was put in place originally over fears about quakes and tremors
• Current rules force firms to stop drilling if tremors hit 0.5 on the Richter Scale
• But firms said to want limit raised to make the process economically viable

Fracking firms are believed to have lobbied the government to relax rules to allow them to cause stronger earthquakes while drilling. 

Liz Truss announced she plans to relax the ban on new UK drilling sites after taking over as Prime Minister as the nation faces an energy price crunch.

The moratorium was put in place originally over fears about quakes and tremors caused by the process, which forces pressurised gas and water into underground fissures to force gas and oil out of seams.

Current rules force firms to stop drilling if tremors hit 0.5 on the Richter Scale. 

But the Telegraph today reported that firms want the limit raised to the same level for processes such as geothermal heating in order to make it financially viable.

Environmentalists reacted with alarm at the suggestion. Friends of the Earth energy campaigner Danny Gross said: ‘Local communities will be rightly alarmed if safeguards that protect people and their homes from earthquakes caused by fracking are watered down.

Fracking firms are considering offering a 25 per cent discount on bills if local residents agree to allow fresh drilling near their homes.

‘When these regulations were introduced by the government 10 years ago, the fracking industry accepted them. But after triggering much larger earthquakes than expected, they now want to weaken them.

‘Fracking has already proven to be deeply unpopular with communities – moves like this would only strengthen opposition.’

Ms Truss set herself up for a new fight with environmental groups and green Tories last week as she confirmed she would lift Boris Johnson’s ban on fracking.

The Prime Minister told MPs last Tuesday, before the death of the Queen, that the moratorium in place since 2019 will be lifted in areas where local communities support the technology.

Fracking firms are considering offering a 25 per cent discount on bills if local residents agree to allow fresh drilling near their homes.

However it remains to be seen how many people will welcome a process that has been linked to earth tremors. 

The technology sees high-pressure water and gasses pumped into gas and oil-rich seams to break them open and extract the mineral wealth.

Ms Truss told the Commons: ‘We will end the moratorium on extracting our huge reserves of shale, which could get gas flowing as soon as six months, where there is local support for it.’

Labour has condemned the idea – and pointed out that many prospective sites are in marginal seats held by Tory MPs. 

The technique has been widely used in the US, a country with wide open spaces. 

But some senior Conservatives fear fracking is unsuited to a country as densely populated as the UK. 

Senior ministers including Jaob Rees-Mogg, the Business secretary, are in favour of more fracking, but others like Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng have previously warned against it, saying it will do little to boost domestic energy production. 

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