Prime Minister Liz Truss is set to lift the ban on fracking amid her major energy announcement.

The newly appointed premier outlined her plans to tackle the energy crisis amid soaring bills across the UK during an energy debate in the House of Commons on Thursday.

Ms Truss announced that she will be freezing bills at the £2,500 mark, as the Government plans to ease the impact of the rising cost of living.

This new figure is around £500 higher than current levels, however, the price cap is set to rise by 80% on October 1.


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The Prime Minister said the plan will be delivered by securing the wholesale price for energy while putting long-term measures in place to keep the prices low in the future.

As part of her emergency package, she also announced that the fracking ban would be lifted in order to accelerate the country's domestic energy supply.

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In her speech in the Commons, the PM said that lifting the ban, which was originally brought in by the Conservatives in 2019, would allow developers to seek planning permission for fracking. 

This process could get gas flowing in as little as six months, the PM said.


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What is fracking?

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a technique for recovering gas and oil from shale rock.

It is the process where liquid is pumped deep underground at a high pressure to fracture shale rock as a means of releasing the gas or oil trapped within it.

The wells can be drilled either vertically or horizontally to release the gas.

Its name refers to how the rock is fractured apart by the high-pressure mixture.

Why is fracking controversial?

The controversial process was banned in 2019 after calls from opposition including green organisations and concerned locals.

Injecting fluid at high pressure into the rock can cause tremors in the Earth.

This opposition stems from headlines in 2011 that the process caused two minor earthquakes in Lancashire, leading to a temporary ban on fracking in the UK.

While seismic events of this scale are rarely felt by people and are considered fairly minor, it has prompted wide-scale concern.