A booming British shale gas fracking industry will blow a hole in the UK’s climate change targets unless it is tightly controlled, the government’s advisers on global warming have warned.

At least three conditions must be met to address the risk, according to a by the Committee on Climate Change, a statutory body set up to advise ministers on keeping greenhouse gas levels within legal limits.

Any shale gas produced in the UK should displace imports rather than increase overall use; the risk of methane leaks must be rapidly addressed; and ministers will have to offset shale gas’s impact on the climate by cutting greenhouse gas emissions in other industries.

It is not clear how easy it will be for these conditions to be met, the report says. “Existing uncertainties over the nature of the exploitable shale gas resource and the potential size of a UK industry make it impossible to know,” said Professor Jim Skea, a member of the Committee on Climate Change.

“Under best practice, UK shale gas may have a lower carbon footprint than much of the gas that we import. However, gas is a fossil fuel wherever it comes from.”

That means it is not a climate-friendly option unless it can be used with equipment that carbon dioxide emissions before they enter the atmosphere. Governments around the world, including the UK, have committed billions of dollars to develop carbon capturing technology but high costs have limited its use. A £1bn plan to boost in last November’s Budget.

The shale industry is in its infancy in the UK but the government is determined to turn it into a thriving source of homegrown fuel, despite objections from environmentalists and some local communities.

At present, natural gas provides more than 80 per cent of UK heating and about 30 per cent of electricity generation.

The UK gets about half its gas supplies from imports, mainly through a pipeline from Norway and liquefied natural gas tankers. With North Sea gas production declining, dependence on imports is expected to rise.

Natural gas produces carbon dioxide when burnt and its main component is methane, a potent greenhouse gas in its own right that can leak from drilling wells. Under the 2008 Climate Change Act, the UK is committed to an 80 per cent cut in greenhouse gases by 2050 compared with levels in 1990.

The UK onshore oil and gas industry trade group, UKOOG, welcomed the Committee on Climate Change report, saying it confirmed that widespread shale gas production was compatible with the carbon budgets provided the three tests were met. “As an industry, we look forward to continuing to work proactively with regulators to minimise fugitive emissions from our operations,” said the group’s chair, Professor Averil Macdonald.

Separately, a group of medical professionals repeated their call for the UK to abandon its shale gas plans because of the threats it posed to health.

A report from the London-based charity said risks included reproductive problems from exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals and respiratory damage from smog.