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But you don't actually expend the helium. You lose a tiny bit through leakage. In airship companies today, the helium is the least of the problems.
by gozur88 9y ago
But you don't actually expend the helium. You lose a tiny bit through leakage. In airship companies today, the helium is the least of the problems.
- arcticbull 9y agoI'm not sure that's true. While abundant in the universe, there's a fairly finite amount of helium here on Earth, and once it escapes, it leaves into space for good. The US even has a strategic helium reserve. The shortage of helium was reported back in 2012 [1] We really need that helium for things like MRIs and chip lithography processes. [1] http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/a4046/why-is-there-a-helium-shortage-10031229/ http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/a4046/why-is-...
- gozur88 9y agoWe still use helium for children's balloons. It's cheap enough that most companies don't even bother to distill it out of natural gas.
- triplesec 9y agoI refer you to this article by a chemistry professor: https://www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/helium-in-crisis/3007152.article?utm_content=helium-GER&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=advert&utm_campaign=mkt-dir-cm-010-17 https://www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/helium-in-crisis/3007...
- triplesec 9y agoThis might be true, that you don't lose much, but every day they'd need recharging a bit, and even without dirigibles, we have barely a century of supply. That is not much. The market rate is criminally low. https://priceonomics.com/the-increasing-scarcity-of-helium/ https://priceonomics.com/the-increasing-scarcity-of-helium/
- gozur88 9y agoWell, I agree Congress's elimination of the Strategic Helium Reserve was criminally stupid. I was addressing the cost point, though. Helium is still reasonably cheap, so it's lost in the noise, financially speaking.