Germany should impose strict environmental conditions on hydraulic fracturing--a technology used to extract unconventional natural gas deposits such as shale gas--due to concerns that this production method can contaminate ground water, a study commissioned by the country's environment ministry said Thursday.

While fracking, as the technology is also known, shouldn't be banned completely, the survey recommends that it should be forbidden in drinking water protection areas, the environment ministry said in a written statement.

Fracking involves using high-pressure water and materials such as sand and chemicals to break open cracks in rock deep underground to extract gas trapped in these rock formations.

The technology is widely applied in the U.S. to extract gas from shale rock layers and is a major contributor to making the country considerably less dependent on foreign energy supplies.

Europe , on the other hand, is more split on the matter of shale gas with France and Bulgaria the main opponents to its extraction because of environmental concerns. Others, led by Poland , are strongly in favor because they see it as a means of easing their dependence on imported gas, usually from Russia .

Earlier this year, Germany 's state-owned Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources said the country has significant shale gas reserves that--if produced--could theoretically meet the country's gas consumption for the next 10 years and help it to considerably reduce reliance on energy imports.

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