FRACKING presents Scotland with a once-in-a-generation opportunity while fears over safety are fuelled by misinformation, the company that wants to establish an indigenous shale gas industry is claiming.

Writing in The Herald ahead of an attempt to win support of SNP members at its conference, Ineos director Tom Pickering said that the country had the chance to create jobs, boost the economy and provide a showcase for engineers by embracing the controversial gas extraction technique.

Mr Pickering, the Grangemouth-based operations director for Ineos Shale, said the chemicals company had bought a stall at the party's gathering in a bid to make the case for shale gas to as many delegates as possible.

It comes after the Scottish Government announced an extensive programme of evidence gathering before it makes a final decision in 2017 on whether to allow fracking and ahead of a potentially divisive debate among SNP members about unconventional energy in Aberdeen on Friday.

Splits within the party over the issue have emerged, with pressure from members widely seen to have influenced a u-turn from energy minister Fergus Ewing who announced last week that a separate controversial gas extraction technique, underground coal gasification, would also be covered by a moratorium.

An internal pressure group, SNP Members Against Unconventional Oil and Gas (SMAUG), plans to set up its own stall at the conference and supports a ban on fracking, which sees water, sand and chemicals pumped underground to fracture shale rock and release gas.

Mr Pickering, who promised six per cent of revenues from fracking would be given away to communities, backed the Scottish Government's commitment to being led by scientific evidence, and warned that opposition was being fuelled by information that he said had been discredited.

He said: "We know shale production is safe and we take time to explain why to everyone we meet. However it’s not just Ineos who thinks this. The Scottish Government’s own expert panel has already concluded that shale production is safe if best practice is followed. The view is also supported by the Royal Academy of Engineering, The Royal Society and the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency.

"Unfortunately, misleading programmes like [American documentary] Gasland have fuelled people’s misconception of fracking. Pictures of US residents apparently setting light to their water taps have created a real hysteria but it’s important to acknowledge that this film has been discredited with a Forbes magazine article saying, 'the scene though attention grabbing is widely inaccurate and irresponsible'."

Mr Pickering argued there was no "simplistic choice" between green energy and gas, saying renewables could not guarantee a reliable supply and that gas also served as an essential raw material for products needed by society.

He added: "As a Scot and someone who cares deeply about this country, I don’t want us to lose out on this once-in-a-generation opportunity. Aberdeen is seen as the capital of Europe’s oil business and Scotland now has another chance to lead an industry that will create jobs, boost the economy and showcase our fantastic engineers."

Dr Iain Black, a founding member of SMAUG, said that Mr Pickering's intervention had failed to address key concerns of independent scientists, environmental charities, local businesses and residents regarding safety and economic dangers.

He said the Forbes article he cited was written by a consultant to the oil and gas industry who denied links between carbon dioxide and global warming and dismissed solar and wind energy as "silly".

He added: "Given the growing evidence of problems, Ineos need to provide us with the evidence showing fracking does not have serious health impacts including on cancer and birth defects rates and that there has not been serious worker safety issues at fracking sites in, for example, the USA.

"Indeed, on Ineos’s corporate website they admit to problems with fracking in the US. Ineos must provide us with the evidence showing that it does not cause earthquakes, damage to water courses, lead to rogue methane emissions, damage local and national tourism or create noise pollution. They must provide their evidence because independent evidence exists to show fracking causing all these safety concerns."