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Some mention of how dwindling Helium supplies play in to this would be helpful.
by CalRobert 4y ago
Some mention of how dwindling Helium supplies play in to this would be helpful.
- eej71 4y agoI believe its mostly a myth that helium supplies are dwindling. Its a byproduct of natural gas production which is something the USA should be using more of anyway. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium_production_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium_production_in_the_Unite...
- rippercushions 4y agoIt's a dwindling resource in the sense that it's not renewable (on human timescales, anyway) or reusable: once it's in the atmosphere, it's effectively gone.
- horseAMcharlie 4y agoWould expanded civilian nuclear power provide some kind of sustainable helium production as a side effect or do the numbers not work out?
- dsr_ 4y agoOnly if we change to fusion power, which is just fifty years away.
- skykooler 4y agoEven nuclear fusion doesn't produce helium in large amounts; a large fusion plant would produce about 2000 liters / day, meaning you'd need 136 years worth of output from one station to fill a single airlander airship.
- moffkalast 4y agoSame goes for fossil fuels, but that doesn't stop us from burning billions of tons of them per year like we have an infinite supply. And unlike fossil fuels that are (likely) only found on Earth, Helium is the second most common element in the universe and can be found literally everywhere once you're off planet. Plus we can technically manufacture it from radioactive decay.
- roelschroeven 4y ago> can be found literally everywhere once you're off planet In the vacuum of space, not enough to be harvested. Presumably the same for asteroids, moons and planets. Stars have lots and lots of helium, but good luck mining it.
- SamBam 4y agoAgreed. This doesn't seem to be a long-term solution, unless they're relying on continually discovering new helium wells.
- krisoft 4y agoThere are no "helium wells". Helium is extracted as a byproduct of natural gas extraction. Meaning it comes up mixed with natural gas and if the production facilities have the right equipment can be separated from it.
- bombcar 4y agoI mean a hole in the ground that has helium in it is kind of a helium well, even if it's polluted with natural gas.
- njarboe 4y agoNot all natural gas wells have the same percentage of helium in them[1]. "Helium wells" generally refer to wells that have a high amount of Helium relative to others. Those are the ones you would extract Helium from first. [1] https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/609e8fe1d34ea221ce3f39e6 https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/609e8fe1d34ea221ce3...
- SamBam 4y agoYes, sorry, short-hand. Natural gas comes out of wells, and with it helium. Since we're focussing on the helium, I called it a helium well. Indeed, sometimes helium itself is the target, not the natural gas: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-found-huge-reservoir-much-needed-helium-180959592/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-found-h...
- bryanlarsen 4y agoIIRC, the price of helium was artificially suppressed for a long time because the US was getting rid of its strategic helium reserve. Now that they've stopped liquidating the reserve, price signals are starting to work again and helium is again being captured.