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While there is a moratorium on CSG and shale gas, Cluff Natural Resources’ Kincardine UCG project in an estuary of the Forth River, which flows into the North Sea, has no such impediment.

Cluff said the previous government studied UCG and declared it safe, but Greens MP Alison Johnstone is unconvinced.

“Cluff have attempted to downplay coal gas disasters elsewhere but I believe we must look at where things have gone wrong to help us understand the risks,” she said recently.

“We know of serious problems in Australia, resulting in widespread contamination of land. We know investigators were hospitalised with suspected gas poisoning during soil testing.

“It is therefore essential that Cluff lays out in detail the safety record of its projects rather than dismissing concerns out of hand. Cluff also choose to ignore the fact that we already have far more fossil fuels than we can burn if we want to limit climate change.”

Cluff holds nine licences for deep UCG across the UK covering a total area of 690sq.km, with several licences just off the coast.

An independent consultancy, Belltree Group, has confirmed a JORC resource of 335 million tonnes of coal of which 247Mt is measured and indicated.

Cluff says it will continue to work closely with residents, local authorities, regulators and other stakeholders throughout the site selection and planning process for the UK’s first deep offshore UCG project.

Cluff is listed on the Alternative Investment Market in London, and is headed up by executive chairman and CEO Algy Cluff, who was involved in the discovery of the Buchan field, the 14th commercial oil field in the UK North Sea, in 1975.

Former Dart Energy exploration manager Andrew Nunn is Cluff’s chief operating officer.