Carbon dioxide, used for years to force crude oil out of old wells, likely will not replace water in fracking anytime soon because of technical challenges and limited infrastructure, says General Electric Co , which is studying the issue under a $10 billion research program. The delay means energy companies will continue to use more than 2 million gallons of water for each fracked well, equal to baths for some 40,000 people, stressing water supplies in arid American states and likely delaying fracking’s expansion to western China and other water-stressed regions. GE, which is making a push into oilfield technology, is studying how a chilled form of CO2 known as a “super-critical fluid” – neither a liquid nor a solid – could be used as the new industry standard for hydraulic fracturing, the process commonly known as fracking. The conglomerate is working […]