With energy bills soaring, the government looks set to end a moratorium on fracking it imposed three years ago. The decision has led to sharp divisions and renewed fears about the impact on the environment.

What could it mean for Kent? Political Editor Paul Francis reports...

When in 2019 a 2.9 magnitude earthquake tremor was recorded near the Lancashire site where the extraction of shale gas was taking place, there was understandably a swift reaction.

Cuadrilla Resources - the only company licensed to carry out the process - was instructed to stop its activities and told that there would be no further licences until the industry could “reliably predict and control tremors”.

It appeared to dash the hopes of those who believed fracking could be the answer to spiralling energy costs. At the same time, campaigners against what they claimed was an inherently dangerous practice were jubilant.

Announcing the ban, the government said "further consents for fracking will not be granted" unless the industry "can reliably predict and control tremors" linked to the process.

Fast forward to September and fracking is back on the political agenda and a u-turn is on the offing. Why? A combination of different factors, most notably Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and sanctions imposed by the EU on buying supplies from the former.

This has converged with the post-pandemic recovery in the wider economy, leading to an increased demand for gas supplies outstripping what has been available.

The prospect of the energy price cap increasing by an eye-watering 80% forced the government’s hand and it has pegged domestic bills back to about £2,500 from October.

The government says it is now prepared to lift the current ban on fracking, claiming it could help households struggling with their bills.

Politically, it represents a major policy u-turn, ripping up a clear manifesto pledge in 2019 to continue with a moratorium “unless the science shows categorically that it can be done safely”.

The manifesto also emphasised that it had dropped controversial plans to change the planning system to allow companies to bypass councils.

The shift to allow the resumption of boring for natural gas will be a difficult one to sell to Conservative shires, where opposition has been particularly strong.

In 2018, Kent County Council (KCC) pulled no punches in its response to government proposals to give companies permitted rights to explore saying the proposals were "contrary to local democracy" and "frustrating for local communities".

Against a backdrop of alarming stories of earthquake tremors, flames from taps and water pollution, the government may well face similar expressions of unease and the prospect of sit-down protests from campaign groups.

Green county councillor Mark Hood is uncompromising when it comes to the issue of ending the current ban.

“It is so short-sighted," he said.

"I am afraid there is a very strong lobby in the Conservative party over ‘net zero’ targets. The climate-sceptic tail is wagging the Conservative dog, yet again.”

He says those who point to America where fracking is common are wrong to equate the situation there with Kent.

“Most of it happens in uninhabited parts of the country. But here in Kent we rely on groundwater almost exclusively.

"If we start drilling holes down through the aquifers to get to shale gas, we run a risk of polluting the aquifers and you cannot un-pollute them.”

An aquifer is permeable rock which can contain or transmit groundwater. If groundwater is contaminated, it can become unsafe for human use.

Those who come down on the other side of the argument feel just as strongly that fracking could be a big part of curbing energy bills.

Among them is the South Thanet MP Craig Mackinlay, an unabashed enthusiast for the idea. He has consistently made the case for a ban to be lifted.

He has described the UK’s reliance on supplies of gas from Russia was “crackpot” and other avenues should be explored.

“No matter what our movement is towards net zero, whether it is fast or slow - and slower would be my preference - we're going to be using fossil fuels for some time," the Conservative said.

He previously told KentOnline that relying on other countries like Russia for energy supplies when there were adequate reserves for the UK to be energy secure “seems to be absolute greenwash lunacy”.

"It would come at a high cost for communities and our precious countryside..."

The government’s intention to lift the current ban is a calculated risk and the Prime Minister may argue that the science on both sides is not conclusive.

If the government does end the moratorium and trials are a success, the risk may be worth it but for householders, it is likely to be some time before fracking extracts shale gas in sufficient quantities to bring down energy bills.

Even her Chancellor Kwarsi Kwarteng has warned that fracking is not a panacea.

In an interview six months before becoming Chancellor, he said: “If we lifted the fracking moratorium, it would take up to a decade to extract sufficient volumes - and it would come at a high cost for communities and our precious countryside.

“No amount of shale gas from hundreds of wells dotted across rural England would be enough to lower the European price any time soon.”

But Jacob Rees-Mogg, the business minister, says that a review of the seismic levels is needed to make drilling for shale gas commercially viable.

With environmental campaigners vowing to protest, the government could be facing another attritional battle over its policy shift.