Unless you’ve been living under a rock (there’s a joke here somewhere), you’ve probably heard of fracking. It’s the process of extracting natural gas and oil from deep underground (we’ll cover that in more detail shortly), and it’s about as controversial as they come.
Many argue fracking is too environmentally damaging, but others say it’s a necessary bridge fuel to get to 100% renewable energy - and crucially, away from the worst offending fossil fuels such as coal.
In this article, we’ve explained exactly what fracking is, how it works, why it’s controversial, the pros and cons, and what the current status of fracking in the UK is.
If you’re already thinking of greener ways than gas to heat your home, heat pumps are a great option. They’re 100% electric, are much more efficient than boilers, and you can start your heat pump journey with an obligation-free quote from us. Get started with a heat pump quote today.
Key Points:
Fracking is the process of extracting gas and oil from shale rock
The potential environmental damage makes fracking a controversial practice
There’s been a moratorium on fracking in the UK since 2019
Reform wants to bring fracking back for its perceived economic benefits
Most experts agree fracking shouldn’t return to the UK
What Actually Is Fracking?
Fracking is the process of extracting both natural gas and oil from deep underground, although it’s best known for its role in extracting shale (natural) gas. This method of accessing gas could (in theory) help the UK be less reliant on gas imports.
How Fracking Works
Fracking works by drilling into the earth and injecting a fluid made from water, chemicals, and sand at high pressure. This cracks the ground, releasing the trapped gas and allowing it to be harvested.
The boreholes dug during the fracking process can be as deep as 1,000m, which is well below the water table. Despite this, there are concerns about the impact of fracking on aquifers (vital sources of freshwater), and the potential for natural gas and fracking chemicals leaking into and polluting the groundwater.
What Is Shale Gas?
Shale gas is a type of natural gas, predominantly methane. Found underground in shale rock, shale gas is potentially abundant and this is what’s prompted many governments around the world to consider adopting fracking on a widespread scale.
The latest estimates for the amount of shale gas is mind boggling - 214.6 trillion cubic metres (tcm), across 46 countries.
It’s thought that the UK alone might have some 3.8 tcm of shale gas, and fracking could provide 17–22% of the country’s gas consumption up to 2050.
Why Is Fracking Controversial?
First and foremost, fracking is all about extracting yet more polluting fossil fuels from the earth, which’ll be burned and emit carbon emissions into the atmosphere. At a time when the world desperately needs to reduce emissions, should we really be drilling for more gas? If fracking becomes widespread, environmental campaigners fear it’ll deter investment into renewable energy projects.
There’s also concern over how the fracking process could pollute groundwater sources. Because fracking relies on causing fissures in shale rock, the worry is that both gas and the chemicals used in the fracking process could leak into the water shelf above. And fracking uses monumental amounts of water too, which have to be transported to the site at a cost to the environment.
Additionally, fracking can cause seismic activity, which is a concern for residents living near fracking sites. Cuadrilla, an oil and gas exploration and production company, had a fracking site at Preston New Road, Lancashire, and in 2019, over 120 tremors were detected at the site. Sure, it wasn’t enough to trigger an earthquake of any significance, but nonetheless it’s a pain point for communities close to fracking operations.
Seismic activity was one of the key reasons behind the current moratorium (effectively a ban) on fracking in the UK, as it’s “not currently possible to accurately predict the probability or magnitude of earthquakes linked to fracking operations.”
Environmental Concerns: Evidence vs Claims
Environmental concerns surrounding fracking are something of a battleground, with those against fracking decrying its impact on the environment, and those for fracking downplaying it. We’ve separated the fact from the fiction:
Claim: Fracking Exacerbates Climate Change
The gas extracted with fracking is mostly methane, which is considerably worse for the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. Methane levels in the atmosphere have risen sharply since 2008, and you only need to look at how fracking took off in popularity from the early 2000s onwards to connect the dots.
However, this theory has been questioned by some academics in the UK, who suggest there is uncertainty as to whether or not fracking is the main culprit behind the spikes in global methane levels.
One thing is for certain though, fracking does exacerbate climate change because it’s all about extracting more fossil fuels, which when burned release emissions into the atmosphere. Exactly how much it impacts climate change is still up for debate.
Claim: Fracking Is Harmful to Human Health and Wildlife
The fluids used in the fracking process contain a number of potentially hazardous chemicals that pose a threat to humans and wildlife. In the US for example, the liquids used in fracking have contained chemicals with hormone disrupting properties. If these were to leak into the groundwater, or into the immediate environment near the fracking site, it could have a devastating effect on local wildlife. Let alone what would happen if it were to leak into a water source consumed by humans.
There’s also how fracking could drastically change (and damage) the British countryside. In order to meet just 50% of our current gas imports, around 6,000 fracking sites would need to be built. This, it’s argued, would have a devastating effect on the UK’s rural landscape, with natural habitats essential for wildlife potentially cleared.
However, a joint study done by the Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering said that: “The health, safety and environmental risks associated with [fracking] as a means to extract shale gas can be managed effectively in the UK as long as operational best practices are implemented and enforced through regulation.”
Claim: Fracking Uses Vast Amounts of Water
This claim is a contentious one, because it depends on the angle you look at it from. Individually, a fracking well could use around 400 cubic metres (m³) of water per day. Per year, a person living in the UK uses roughly 55m³ of water, so if a fracking well ran throughout the year, it’d use enough water annually to meet the water needs of approximately 2,645 people.
It sounds like a lot, but fracking operations are typically short term, and they won’t use the estimated 400m³ continuously.
Other industries, such as agriculture, consistently use hundreds of cubic waters a day across the whole year (though it still fluctuates with seasonal needs, such as the growing season requiring more water).
That being said, if the UK adds enough wells to cover just half of our current gas imports, the cumulative water usage could be significant. With 6,000 fracking operations all using 400m³, that’s 2,400,000m³ of water in a single day, just shy of London’s daily usage of 2,600,000m³.
Economic Arguments For and Against Fracking
Despite the environmental risks fracking presents, there are some who believe the economic arguments for it outweigh its potential for harm. Here are the main economic arguments for and against fracking:
For: Fracking Could Create Jobs
If fracking were to become widespread across the UK, it’s believed it could create around 74,000 jobs. This is according to the Institute of Directors, though this claim was never independently corroborated. Another report by Ernst & Young suggested fracking would generate 64,500 direct and indirect jobs, at the cost of roughly £33 billion to establish some 4,000 shale gas wells.
Other, wilder claims come from Reform UK, who have publicly stated they wish to bring fracking back. One of the political party’s members has met with Egdon Resources, an oil and gas company with licences for targeting shale gas in an area known as the Gainsborough Trough. Using figures from accounting firm Deloitte, it estimates the gas in the trough (extracted via fracking) could create 250,000 jobs.
It also claims the gas would be worth around £140 billion to the UK economy, but pointedly Egdon Resources refused to share a copy of Deloitte’s assessment when the BBC requested it.
For: Fracking Can Help Transition to Renewable Energy
The UK needs to transition to renewable sources as its main energy source, but doing so is costly and complicated, and can’t be powered by existing solar power and wind power alone. Fracking could help in this transition, by providing natural gas as a transitionary fuel.
This would, in theory, allow renewable energy infrastructure to continue developing, while the UK uses the increased volume of gas to continue powering the country. Natural gas, despite still being a polluting fossil fuel, is cleaner than coal. So the logic is that using natural gas in power stations instead of coal while we upgrade the infrastructure to accommodate more renewables, is better overall for the environment.
Against: Fracking Won’t Reduce Energy Bills
Simply put, using fracking to get more gas won’t lower the prices because the companies selling it still need to profit from it. So anyone arguing for fracking saying more gas will mean lower prices is pulling your leg, to be blunt. Neither BP, Shell, or any of the big companies extracting and selling gas will lower the price just because there’s more of it to go around.
There’s also the problem that the UK doesn’t have enough storage space to hold extra gas. In fact, the storage situation in the UK is so dire, that we’re currently exporting around a third of the gas we extract from the North Sea, because we can’t store it.
Against: Fracking Is Too Costly To Set Up
Fracking operations are expensive to get up and running and realistically, it’ll be more cost effective for the UK to import gas. The billions needed to invest in fracking infrastructure are billions that could (and likely should) be spent on upgrading the UK’s grid. Because right now, the grid is in dire need of improvements to accommodate the growing number of renewables.
This is especially important as the UK’s electricity consumption increases over the next few decades.
The History of Fracking in the UK
Fracking’s history in the UK is a tumultuous tapestry of twists and turns, leading to its current status as a practice firmly out in the cold. Here’s a fracking timeline for you:
1970s to 2010 – Fracking has happened at a small scale in the UK since the 1970s, but fracking of the scale we understand today kicked off truly with the 2008 Lancaster discovery by Cuadrilla in Lancashire.
2011 – The first high-volume fracking began at Preese Hall, Lancashire. During operations, two small earthquakes (1.5 and 2.3 magnitude) were detected in April and May. This led to a moratorium on fracking and an independent review by the Royal Society & Royal Academy of Engineering.
2012 – The moratorium on fracking was lifted with a new rule for seismic monitoring put in place. If the local magnitude level (ML) went above 0.5, operations would stop immediately.
2013–2018 – Fracking continues in Lancashire and work is planned elsewhere across other sites in the UK. Protests against fracking become more regular from groups such as Frack Off and Reclaim the Power.
2018–2019 – Seismic activity at the fracking site at Preston New Road, including a 2.9 ML event in August 2019, causes the UK government to impose a moratorium on scientific grounds. This 2.9 ML event was the largest fracking-induced earthquake in the world at the time.
2019–2025 (present) – The moratorium continues to this day and the current Labour government has utterly ruled out any return to fracking.
Policy, Law, and Regulation
Fracking is subject to very strict policies, laws, and regulations:
Planning permission is required at the local (mineral planning authority) and, if big enough, sometimes at the national level. This makes getting permission to build a fracking operation pretty difficult.
Environmental permits are required for a fracking site. The Environment Agency will assess each potential fracking operation on a site-by-site basis, as fracking is fraught with environmental risks including groundwater pollution.
A “traffic light” system must be in place to monitor seismic activity - if the fracking causes seismic activity greater than 0.5 ML, operations must stop.
Even if the moratorium on fracking were to be lifted tomorrow, the regulatory bar is so high that many analysts believe fracking on a commercial scale is all but impossible.
Alternatives To Fracking
The UK is already doing a pretty good job deploying low-carbon or zero-carbon alternatives to polluting industries such as fracking. Wind power, for example, is a particularly bright spot for the UK and we’re considered a world leader in it. On 11 November 2025, the UK set a new record for wind power, generating some 22,711 megawatts (MW) - enough to power 22 million UK households!
And solar power is increasingly popular across the country, with over 1.8 million households now using solar panels to generate free, clean electricity (according to data from the MCS Dashboard).
There’s the growing electrification of heating to consider too, which will render gas heating obsolete at some point in the years to come. Many homes are already futureproofing their heating by installing heat pumps, and as electricity costs inevitably fall, the cost of running a heat pump will match and likely drop below what it costs to run a gas boiler.
On the larger scale, energy-system models from the National Energy System Operator (NESO) show that the UK can reach net zero emissions without relying on shale gas. Predictions such as these strongly suggest that fracking for gas as a transitionary fuel to renewables isn’t even needed.
Read more:
Why Is Electricity More Expensive Than Gas in the UK?
Should Fracking Return?
If the UK is serious about a proper transition to renewable energy (both for heating and electricity), then fracking should remain consigned to the history books. There’s arguments to be made for its potential to generate jobs, but if you look at the jobs potential for renewable energy, it’s night and day. The UK government predicts clean energy could bring 400,000 extra jobs by 2030, compared to the 60,000 or highly speculative jobs for fracking.
From the perspective of the public, fracking is already dead and buried. The risks posed to the environment and the potential for seismic disturbances have made it hugely unpopular in the eyes of Brits - especially those living near sites suitable for fracking. When the moratorium on fracking was introduced in 2019, just 10% of the public supported fracking; 41% were opposed.
The Climate Change Committee (CCC), which advises the government on carbon emissions, said in a 2019 letter to former Secretary of State Kwasi Kwarteng MP: “UK unabated fossil energy consumption must be reduced over time within levels we have advised to be consistent with the carbon budgets.”
The letter added: “The Committee’s Balanced Net Zero Pathway requires reductions in oil consumption of 47% by 2035 and 77% by 2050 and in unabated fossil gas combustion of 65% by 2035 and 99% by 2050.”
Under these guidelines, a return of fracking would only increase the amount of gas being burned in the UK.
Summary
Most experts view fracking as an odd hiccup of the past, and now agree that shale gas will play little or no role in the UK’s energy future. Better instead that the UK continues developing renewable energy infrastructure, and promoting green technologies such as heat pumps and solar panels.
As MCS-certified solar panel installers, Heatable can help with this. Simply answer these questions, get your fixed price, and arrange your free design. And, if you’re looking to futureproof your home’s heating with a heat pump, we’ve got you covered there too - get your free heat pump quote today.
Next Steps For Your Heat Pump Journey:
When planning to install a heat pump for your home, there are several important factors to consider. Make sure to refer to the following guides to help you make informed decisions:
To dive deeper into these topics, head over to our advice section or check out our YouTube channel to learn more.
Get A Quote From Us Today
Without boasting, get your new heat pump quote and buy from us, here’s why:
Gas Safe installation within 24 hours.
Thousands of satisfied customers with an average score of 4.9 on Trustpilot, surpassing the market leader.
Which? Trusted Trader: Heatable is proudly recognised as a Which? Trusted Trader.
Flexible payment options, including interest-free finance.
Up to 12-year guarantee on selected heat pumps.
Fixed price guarantee: No hidden costs.
Save your quote and decide later.
Get an instant fixed price on a heat pump, here.
Heat Happy.
