Liquefied petroleum gas gel for hydraulic fracturing — also called dry fracking —could save millions of gallons of water at each fracking well site, the Tribune reports.
Instead of using water, the process uses highly pressurized gas, which is injected directly into a formation to crack the rock.
Fracking companies may encounter intense competition for water, as 38 percent of the world’s shale resources are either under extremely high water stress or facing arid conditions, according to a report by the World Resources Institute published in September.
In other efforts to use less water, some fracking firms are increasingly using recycled water.