DEFINITION: A drilling technique which sees liquid pumped deep underground at high pressure to fracture rock and release oil or gas. Opponents claim that the process can contaminate water, cause earthquakes and exacerbate noise and traffic pollution.
See also: Shale gas
And breathe. In what has been the biggest political reshuffle since the 1960s, Andrea Leadsom has been appointed Business Secretary at BEIS, while Theresa Villiers has become Defra's new Environment Secretary. So, how well do the pair match up with their respective briefs?
Fracking should be banned, the UK must take global leadership on the climate emergency and a royal commission should decide how to build homes in an environmentally sustainable manner, an influential group of Conservative MPs has said.
The Welsh Government has committed to phase out the continued extraction and use of fossil fuels, including those obtained by fracking, as it strives to reduce national carbon emissions by 80% by 2050, against a 2011 baseline.
