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The amount of helium will be much lesser than what you think it is. If we produce all the energy in the world using fusion, it will create less helium per day t

The amount of helium will be much lesser than what you think it is. If we produce all the energy in the world using fusion, it will create less helium per day than a tank used by kids helium balloon shop. > If one ton of deuterium were to be consumed through the fusion reaction with tritium, the energy released would be 8.4 × 10^20 joules[1] That's 0.84 exajoule(233 TWh) per kilo of deuterium or 0.42 exajoule(117 TWh) per kg of helium produced. World energy consumption is 1.6 exajoule per day[2] so less than 4 kg helium will be removed per day if energy extraction is perfect or few 10s of kg assuming imperfection [1]: https://www.britannica.com/science/nuclear-fusion/Energy-released-in-fusion-reactions https://www.britannica.com/science/nuclear-fusion/Energy-rel... [2]: https://www.statista.com/statistics/265598/consumption-of-primary-energy-worldwide/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/265598/consumption-of-pr...

dr_dshiv 5y ago
What. The. F. New level of appreciation. Thank you.
willis936 5y ago
These numbers don't jive with my understanding. It's about a factor of 2,500x higher. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30277024 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30277024
Retric 5y ago
Your energy estimate is off, but also ~10kg of helium is ~56 cubic meters or ~2,000 cubic feet that’s several large helium tanks which run around 291 cubic feet as that’s a serious pain to move around without a hand truck. Actual fuel fuel estimate: “a 1000 MW coal-fired power plant requires 2.7 million tonnes of coal per year, a fusion plant of the kind envisioned for the second half of this century will only require 250 kilos of fuel per year, half of it deuterium, half of it tritium.” https://www.iter.org/sci/FusionFuels https://www.iter.org/sci/FusionFuels “Global electricity consumption in 2019 was 22,848 terawatt-hour” 22,848 * 1000 / 365 / 24 = 2608 different 1GW reactors each producing 250kg of helium per year. So 652,000 kg/year if all the worlds electricity was made from fusion or ~3,650,000 cubic meters or ~130,000,000 cubic feet of helium. PS: Efficiency numbers could wildly change those estimates, but that’s the rough ballpark for electricity let alone stuff like transportation or home heating etc.
- YetAnotherNick 5y ago
  You are talking if helium is stored in atmospheric pressure. It is generally sold compressed like all other gas. Search google for 10kg helium tank. In my area it is available for $30.
  - Retric 5y ago
    That’s the weight of the tank not the helium inside it. They should advertise it as filling ~30 helium balloons. Which obviously weigh far less than 10kg or they wouldn’t float. The ~300 cubic foot tanks are 9 inches in diameter, 55 inches tall, with about 130 pounds and contain about 1.5kg of helium.

dr_dshiv 5y ago

What. The. F. New level of appreciation. Thank you.

willis936 5y ago

These numbers don't jive with my understanding. It's about a factor of 2,500x higher. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30277024 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30277024

Retric 5y ago

Your energy estimate is off, but also ~10kg of helium is ~56 cubic meters or ~2,000 cubic feet that’s several large helium tanks which run around 291 cubic feet as that’s a serious pain to move around without a hand truck. Actual fuel fuel estimate: “a 1000 MW coal-fired power plant requires 2.7 million tonnes of coal per year, a fusion plant of the kind envisioned for the second half of this century will only require 250 kilos of fuel per year, half of it deuterium, half of it tritium.” https://www.iter.org/sci/FusionFuels https://www.iter.org/sci/FusionFuels “Global electricity consumption in 2019 was 22,848 terawatt-hour” 22,848 * 1000 / 365 / 24 = 2608 different 1GW reactors each producing 250kg of helium per year. So 652,000 kg/year if all the worlds electricity was made from fusion or ~3,650,000 cubic meters or ~130,000,000 cubic feet of helium. PS: Efficiency numbers could wildly change those estimates, but that’s the rough ballpark for electricity let alone stuff like transportation or home heating etc.

YetAnotherNick 5y ago
You are talking if helium is stored in atmospheric pressure. It is generally sold compressed like all other gas. Search google for 10kg helium tank. In my area it is available for $30.
- Retric 5y ago
  That’s the weight of the tank not the helium inside it. They should advertise it as filling ~30 helium balloons. Which obviously weigh far less than 10kg or they wouldn’t float. The ~300 cubic foot tanks are 9 inches in diameter, 55 inches tall, with about 130 pounds and contain about 1.5kg of helium.