Anti-fracking protesters have pledged to pile pressure on the Scottish Government to close a loophole in its moratorium on unconventional gas extraction.
Members of campaign group Frack-Off Fife are furious that highly controversial plans to extract coal gas from the seabed are not included in the temporary ban announced by energy minister Fergus Ewing last week.
Private company Cluff Natural Resources has been granted licences for the process beneath the Firth of Forth at Kincardine and Largo Bay.
Frack-Off Fife claims failing to extend the ban to underground coal gasification (UCG) would, in effect, allow the industry to assess its own safety processes.
Spokeswoman Audrey Egan expressed serious concern that communities would be unable to argue against plans for UCG beneath the Firth of Forth on safety grounds if it is not included in the investigations announced by Mr Ewing.
Frack-Off Fife has the backing of Mid Scotland and Fife Labour MSP Claire Baker, who called for the moratorium to be extended to UCG. It involves drilling a borehole into a coal seam, flushing it with oxygen and igniting it before piping it to onshore power stations.
Those behind the plans say the process is safe and would produce enough gas to fuel Britain cheaply and efficiently for hundreds of years. However, campaigners say it is largely untested, has never been attempted offshore and could result in an environmental disaster.
The Scottish Government’s moratorium means planning permission will not be granted for any onshore unconventional oil and gas extraction until full public consultation and health impact assessments are carried out.
Further work to strengthen planning guidance and tighten environmental regulations will also be done.
As UCG is carried out offshore, Mr Ewing said it falls outwith the government’s jurisdiction and would not be included in the ban.
Audrey Egan said campaigners are “up in arms” over what they see as a loophole.
“Given that the sub-stations for the offshore process need to be placed onshore, it really should have been included in the moratorium,” she said.
“Industry assessing itself on the safety of its processes is unjustified and it could neutralise the precautionary elements of national policy with respect to unconventional gas.
“This would leave communities with an impossible job in arguing it wasn’t safe, whether they had a right to consultation or not. It is most unfair and undemocratic.”
Frack-Off Fife intends to lobby Fife Council and local authorities on the opposite side of the Forth, urging them to refuse planning permission for any onshore infrastructure related to UCG.
Mrs Baker said she is “extremely disappointed” that UCG was not included in the moratorium and claimed the Scottish Government does have the powers to stop it. She has written to Mr Ewing to ask him to clarify the situation.
“We cannot be left with a situation where UCG sneaks through the back door in Fife,” she said
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) confirmed it would have to issue licences before UCG could be given the go-ahead. Environmental campaigners say ministers could urge Sepa to refuse consent.
A government spokesman said ministers would work with Sepa to ensure appropriate controls and regulations were in place.