UK PM Liz Truss ends the ban on fracking, criticism of the decision taking place outside the country as well

The whole of Europe is facing an energy crisis due to the interruption in gas supply by Russia. Britain is no exception to this. The UK government, which is facing the energy crisis, has taken a big decision in view of this. PM Liz Truss lifts ban on fracking. The reason for this is not only the British environmentalists are angry, but this decision of Britain is also being opposed in many other countries of the world. In such a situation it becomes necessary to know what is this fracking. 

what is this whole process

Fracking is the process of extracting natural water, gas and oil from the depths of the ground. In this type of drilling, water is sent into the ground at high pressure along with some chemicals and some other things. This causes cracks in the rocks present inside the ground. The gas released from this process is then collected separately. After this process which lasts for about 5 days, the oil well is considered ready for exploitation. In general terms, this is a drilling process, which is also called hydraulic fracturing. 

Ban was imposed after the earthquake in 2019

In 2019, when this process was banned, there was information about earthquakes in some places. For this reason, Britain had banned it three years ago, saying that there is a risk of earthquake from it. But, now that the government has lifted this ban, environmentalists are questioning the government. According to environmentalists, it also has a direct impact on the health of the people. In this regard, a report came out in 2019 in which the direct impact of this process on health was told. In this report, the risk of miscarriage, migraine problems, fatigue and other skin diseases, including the risk of birth of preterm babies, was told. 

What do environmentalists say?

Environmentalists even say that it pollutes the air along with groundwater. In a report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), it has even been said that in the US, as much methane is released from an oil well during fracking as 10 to 3 million cars remove methane annually. Due to these arguments of environmentalists, there has been resentment in many countries over Britain's decision. 

Britain's reasoning on the decision

The UK government argues on this issue that it has taken this decision to meet the energy requirement. At the time when fracking was banned, the command of the country was in the hands of Boris Johnson. The British government also says that due to the interruption of gas supply from Russia, there has been a tremendous jump in gas prices. This has created a situation of imbalance. 

Britain's motive behind the decision

The statement of the UK Energy Minister in this regard is also worth noting. He says the goal is to become the UK's energy exporter by 2040. So the government is looking at all the options. In the coming days, the government is going to give about hundred new licenses for gas production. This decision of the government is being strongly opposed in the Parliament of the country itself. Opposition leaders say that in the year 2019, the Conservative Party had broken the promise made in its election manifesto with a decision. The Labor Party has strongly criticized the government for this decision. (Based on information from Deutsche Welle and BBC)