8 ms·

We're not really running out, it's just getting more expensive because the government doesn't regulate it's availability anymore since the strategic helium rese

We're not really running out, it's just getting more expensive because the government doesn't regulate it's availability anymore since the strategic helium reserve was done away with. It won't be a big deal for (already expensive) rocketry. Buying helium balloons for your birthday will be pricey, though.

kobeya 10y ago
Um, no. We are in fact running out of helium. There's only a certain mount and nobody not even natural processes is making anymore in any significant quantity. And what we do have is rapidly being released into the atmosphere and escaping into space. And given that the nearest natural source of helium is Jupiter, that is a little concerning.
- greglindahl 10y ago
  New helium is generated by alpha decay, and it comes up in natural gas wells that happen to be located in areas with natural radioactivity.
  - mikeash 10y ago
    Not much, though. A quick perusal of Wikipedia (buyer beware, etc.) indicates that about 3,000 tons of helium are generated per year through radioactive decay (that's all happening in assorted rocks throughout the Earth's crust, so much of it wouldn't be easy to recover, either) while current production rates are around 9,000 tons per year.
    - greglindahl 10y ago
      A natural gas well has 10s of millions of years of helium accumulation from its local area.
      - mikeash 10y ago
        Right, which means that while it's renewable over geological timescales, it's more or less a fixed reserve in human timescales. Much like oil.
  - kobeya 10y ago
    Avogadro's number is very big: 6e22.
    - ridgeguy 10y ago
      It's even bigger than that: ~ 6e23. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avogadro_constant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avogadro_constant
      - kobeya 10y ago
        Thank you.
    - awesomebob 10y ago
      los grandes avogadro's :)
- ghshephard 10y ago
  You can extract helium from natural gas. An estimated 54 billion cubic feet (1.5×109 m3) of helium was detected in Tanzania in 2016 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium#Modern_extraction_and_distribution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium#Modern_extraction_and_d...
  - kobeya 10y ago
    Yes that is where all helium on earth comes from: trapped ground sources, often in natural gas and oil deposits. Alpha particles from the Earth's radioactive core propagate upwards and get trapped somewhere in the earths crust, where we find them. But it took hundreds of millions of years to create macroscopic amounts of helium, so once all the sources in the ground or tapped it's gone, on human timescales at least. And you can't recycle from the atmosphere because it escapes the Earth's gravity.
    - kijin 10y ago
      I'm pretty sure we could make more helium if we really needed it. Nuclear fusion produces helium as a waste, and I expect fusion to become widespread before we run out of natural sources of helium on Earth. We already rely on nuclear reactors to get several elements that are used in radiotherapy. IIRC there was a major shortage of medical isotopes a few years ago when a Canadian reactor that used to supply most of them was shut down. Of course, it will be expensive, so no more cheap helium balloons for our grandkids. For specialized applications, though, we can afford some artificial helium.
      - Faaak 10y ago
        A big difference between radionuclides and helium is that radionuclides are only needed in a relatively "small" quantity (producable by fission). Nuclear fusion would create helium but in very small quantities. Having 1TWe of fusion reactors would only yield 5grams of helium/second. That is not much.
- robryk 10y ago
  > And given that the nearest natural source of helium is Jupiter, that is a little concerning. Sun is closer and produces helium all the time, but less practical to harvest it from.
- sangnoir 10y ago
  The US government alone is in the process of disposing[1] 1 billion cubic meters of the stuff from it's strategic reserves dating to back when airships where a thing. That volume is equivalent to a cube 1km long on each side. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Helium_Reserve https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Helium_Reserve
  - kobeya 10y ago
    And when it is gone?

kobeya 10y ago

Um, no. We are in fact running out of helium. There's only a certain mount and nobody not even natural processes is making anymore in any significant quantity. And what we do have is rapidly being released into the atmosphere and escaping into space. And given that the nearest natural source of helium is Jupiter, that is a little concerning.

greglindahl 10y ago
New helium is generated by alpha decay, and it comes up in natural gas wells that happen to be located in areas with natural radioactivity.
- mikeash 10y ago
  Not much, though. A quick perusal of Wikipedia (buyer beware, etc.) indicates that about 3,000 tons of helium are generated per year through radioactive decay (that's all happening in assorted rocks throughout the Earth's crust, so much of it wouldn't be easy to recover, either) while current production rates are around 9,000 tons per year.
  - greglindahl 10y ago
    A natural gas well has 10s of millions of years of helium accumulation from its local area.
    - mikeash 10y ago
      Right, which means that while it's renewable over geological timescales, it's more or less a fixed reserve in human timescales. Much like oil.
- kobeya 10y ago
  Avogadro's number is very big: 6e22.
  - ridgeguy 10y ago
    It's even bigger than that: ~ 6e23. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avogadro_constant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avogadro_constant
    - kobeya 10y ago
      Thank you.
  - awesomebob 10y ago
    los grandes avogadro's :)
ghshephard 10y ago
You can extract helium from natural gas. An estimated 54 billion cubic feet (1.5×109 m3) of helium was detected in Tanzania in 2016 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium#Modern_extraction_and_distribution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium#Modern_extraction_and_d...
- kobeya 10y ago
  Yes that is where all helium on earth comes from: trapped ground sources, often in natural gas and oil deposits. Alpha particles from the Earth's radioactive core propagate upwards and get trapped somewhere in the earths crust, where we find them. But it took hundreds of millions of years to create macroscopic amounts of helium, so once all the sources in the ground or tapped it's gone, on human timescales at least. And you can't recycle from the atmosphere because it escapes the Earth's gravity.
  - kijin 10y ago
    I'm pretty sure we could make more helium if we really needed it. Nuclear fusion produces helium as a waste, and I expect fusion to become widespread before we run out of natural sources of helium on Earth. We already rely on nuclear reactors to get several elements that are used in radiotherapy. IIRC there was a major shortage of medical isotopes a few years ago when a Canadian reactor that used to supply most of them was shut down. Of course, it will be expensive, so no more cheap helium balloons for our grandkids. For specialized applications, though, we can afford some artificial helium.
    - Faaak 10y ago
      A big difference between radionuclides and helium is that radionuclides are only needed in a relatively "small" quantity (producable by fission). Nuclear fusion would create helium but in very small quantities. Having 1TWe of fusion reactors would only yield 5grams of helium/second. That is not much.
robryk 10y ago
> And given that the nearest natural source of helium is Jupiter, that is a little concerning. Sun is closer and produces helium all the time, but less practical to harvest it from.
sangnoir 10y ago
The US government alone is in the process of disposing[1] 1 billion cubic meters of the stuff from it's strategic reserves dating to back when airships where a thing. That volume is equivalent to a cube 1km long on each side. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Helium_Reserve https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Helium_Reserve
- kobeya 10y ago
  And when it is gone?