The Helium Boom27 Apr 2021 15:46
Smart Money Is Betting On A Helium Boom
By Alex Kimani - Apr 08, 2021,
While batteries are set to power everything, helium is indispensable in many key applications including space exploration, rocketry, high-level scientific applications, in the medical industry for MRI scanners, fiber optics, electronics, telecommunications, superconductivity, underwater breathing, welding, cryogenic shielding, leak detection, and in lifting balloons. At a melting point of -261.1°C (-429°F), helium has the lowest melting point of any element, meaning there’s no substitute for the gas where ultra-low temperatures are required including in superconductors.
With demand constantly outstripping supply and the federal government no longer freely selling helium, prices have skyrocketed, hitting $35 per liter in 2019, more than double an average of $14.60 per liter they commanded three years ago.
Dwindling supplies
Only a small percentage of the helium generated through natural means is readily accessible, and even a smaller proportion is economically feasible to collect.
The helium that we find on our planet is a product of radioactive decay from minerals made of uranium and thorium. Unfortunately, the vast majority leaks off into space, and whatever little that is trapped comes nowhere close to meeting our global demand of 32,000 tons of helium per year (about 6.2 billion cubic feet measured at 70°F and under earth's normal atmosphere). The vast majority of our helium reserves come from millions of years of gradual accumulation, especially in shale formations.
After being formed deep in the bowels of the earth, helium tends to rise and collect in the same deposits as natural gas. In fact, most of our helium supply comes from natural gas companies that collect the gas as an ancillary benefit. Unfortunately, current technological limits mean that helium is only economically recoverable at concentrations greater than 0.3%. Consequently, the vast majority of the helium in gas reserves is simply vented away.
But the weakest link in the helium supply chain: The U.S. federal government is no longer selling helium to traders and manufacturers.
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