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Helium can definitely be used up if we keep putting it in balloons and allowing it to escape into space. Radioisotopes are also used up. Sure, we could transmut

Helium can definitely be used up if we keep putting it in balloons and allowing it to escape into space. Radioisotopes are also used up. Sure, we could transmute radioactive waste back into usable uranium or thorium but that would be a big energy sink, negating the primary use for those minerals. Fossil fuels have the same problem.

WalterBright 4y ago
Yes, I know about helium. > energy sink The sun can be used to create more fuel. We prefer drilling for fossil fuels because it's cheaper. We know how to make synthetic oil and fuel.
scoofy 4y ago
Theoretically, if we achieve fusion, wouldn't fusing hydrogen create unlimited helium?
credit_guy 4y ago
Once a gas escapes into the atmosphere any gas (apart from O2, N2 and CO2) is irretrievable economocally. Helium happens to leave the planet, but so what? Helium is continuously produced inside Earth, it is the alpha radiation produced by the decay of Radon. There are natural gas wells that yield up to 10% Helium. If the market demand were there (eg airships), the Helium production could probably go up by a factor of 10 or 100. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium_production_in_the_United_States https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium_production_in_the_Uni...