RE: The Board14 Jun 2024 10:24
From MoneyWeek article Sept 2020, - note about Netflix!
This question has been driving helium prices higher. Globally, the helium market is thought to be worth in the region of $2bn, so it’s not big. It’s also an over-the-counter market (rather than exchange-traded), so prices are hard to track. But US auction results show a 135% price rise in the past 12 months.
We associate helium with party balloons, but its uses are rather more high tech. It has the lowest boiling point of any element and is inert, so it’s used as a coolant in nuclear reactors, MRI machines and particle accelerators. It purges gas in rocket engine systems. Helium-filled hard drives boost capacity by 50% (long story short, helium takes up less space than air) and energy efficiency by 23%, so there is huge demand from data centres – TV streaming giant Netflix uses lots of it. Helium is also key to the manufacture of barcode readers, computer chips, semiconductors, LCD panels and fibre optic cable.
Lockheed Martin is developing hybrid helium cargo airships, which may be the trucks and ships of the future. Google’s Loon project aims to bring internet access to rural and remote communities worldwide, using an aerial wireless network of high-altitude, helium-filled balloons floating on the edge of space."