Water reservation, especially in remote and drought-prone areas and environmental concerns, are two major drawbacks of water-based fracturing. Waterless fracturing technologies, however, also referred to as green hydraulic fracturing, are friendly to the environment and have the potential to replace water-based fracturing. This article critically reviews such technologies. More attention is given to supercritical carbon dioxide (Sc-CO2), as it is the most viable option with the potential to mitigate global warming. Waterless fracturing technologies cause minimal formation damage, have high fluid compatibility, increase production, exhibit quick flowback rate, and utilize reusable materials. However, an in-depth understanding of the mechanisms and limitations of technologies is required to extract the maximum benefit and to de-risk projects. While some of the problems related to these technologies have been addressed, field-wide applications are yet challenging. Waterless fracturing technologies have high initial costs but, over a longer period of time, these technologies, in particular Sc-CO2 fracturing fluid, offer excellent economic efficiency. However, Poor proppant carrying capacity, high frictional resistance, high displacement, and easy sand plugging are problems associated with Sc-CO2 fracturing. Trending research in the field of Sc-CO2 fracturing involves an understanding of its adsorption in shale, developing the best fit adsorption isotherm, and increasing its viscosity in order to improve the carrying ability of the proppants. © 2020 Elsevier B.V.