7 ms·

But why? Have they found new gigantic pockets of natural gas rich with helium? Or some scientific breakthrough allowing it to be produced radiologically?

lo_zamoyski 3y ago
Indeed: why? I suspect the answer is likely to be something worryingly banal, like "we're in debt" (or, "private interest knows a guy who wants to make some money"). Economies run on state-sponsored usury don't tend to last.
- notatoad 3y ago
  >I suspect the answer is likely to be something worryingly banal, like "we're in debt" (or, "private interest knows a guy who wants to make some money") wikipedia has the answers. tl;dr it sounds like both of those things: the reserve was in debt and was depressing the market for helium. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Helium_Reserve https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Helium_Reserve
  - jquery 3y ago
    Ugh, it is criminal how short-sighted this is. Helium is not easy to replace nor easy to store long term, it's the perfect application for government ownership of a commodity, just in case we need it.
    - Paul-Craft 3y ago
      Absolutely. And "in case we need it" is for stuff like cryogenics (e.g. MRI machines), and deep sea diving, not bullshit like party balloons.
  - cvoss 3y ago
    Actually, the existence of the reserve was not depressing the market. The sell off of the reserve, which was mandated in 1996 and began in 2005, was depressing the market. The sale was modified in 2013 to try to relieve the market flooding issue. The present auction is the final piece of the sale.
  - mrguyorama 3y ago
    >the reserve was in debt A public service (which is what a federal stockpile IS) cannot be in dept. Can't wait until "fiscal responsibility" types are trying to sell off the justice department to the highest bidder because it "is in debt"
    - notatoad 3y ago
      i get your point and mostly agree with it - it's frustrating when people say things like "public transit isn't profitable"... yeah, it's not supposed to be, it's okay for things to cost money. but that's different to being in debt. a public service can absolutely be in debt. it's given a budget, and if it fails to operate within that budget it goes into debt. that might mean the budget is too low, but there's always a point where a service is no longer worth the budget it would take to keep it operating. (not making a judgement on the helium reserve - i really have no context for how necessary or useful it is)
- bostonsre 3y ago
  Anyone know how much it costs to maintain the reserve infrastructure? Do they have facilities that need to be staffed to keep an eye on it or is do they just need to just have perimeter security?
Jiro 3y ago
This has nothing to do with selling off the reserve, but they have found new resources, see https://www.cnn.com/2016/06/28/africa/helium-discovery-tanzania/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2016/06/28/africa/helium-discovery-tanza... . This one expects to start producing in 2025 (according to more recent articles).
- fnordpiglet 3y ago
  > The team estimates that just one part of the reserve in Tanzania could be as large as 54 billion cubic feet (BCf), which is enough to fill more than 1.2 million medical MRI scanners. > “To put this discovery into perspective, global consumption of helium is about 8 billion cubic feet (BCf) per year and the United States Federal Helium Reserve, which is the world’s largest supplier, has a current reserve of just 24.2 BCf,” said University of Oxford’s Chris Ballentine, a professor with the Department of Earth Sciences. I’d note this is only enough for 7 years of consumption. I’m not sure what kind of game changer that is.
  - zamadatix 3y ago
    As an alternative note that's a single newly discovered pocket with more helium than this reserve held at its peak. Both figures absolutely pale in comparison to how much we throw out because it's not profitable but the fossil fuels it's in are, but that's nothing new.
deleted 3y ago
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lo_zamoyski 3y ago

Indeed: why? I suspect the answer is likely to be something worryingly banal, like "we're in debt" (or, "private interest knows a guy who wants to make some money"). Economies run on state-sponsored usury don't tend to last.

notatoad 3y ago
>I suspect the answer is likely to be something worryingly banal, like "we're in debt" (or, "private interest knows a guy who wants to make some money") wikipedia has the answers. tl;dr it sounds like both of those things: the reserve was in debt and was depressing the market for helium. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Helium_Reserve https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Helium_Reserve
- jquery 3y ago
  Ugh, it is criminal how short-sighted this is. Helium is not easy to replace nor easy to store long term, it's the perfect application for government ownership of a commodity, just in case we need it.
  - Paul-Craft 3y ago
    Absolutely. And "in case we need it" is for stuff like cryogenics (e.g. MRI machines), and deep sea diving, not bullshit like party balloons.
- cvoss 3y ago
  Actually, the existence of the reserve was not depressing the market. The sell off of the reserve, which was mandated in 1996 and began in 2005, was depressing the market. The sale was modified in 2013 to try to relieve the market flooding issue. The present auction is the final piece of the sale.
- mrguyorama 3y ago
  >the reserve was in debt A public service (which is what a federal stockpile IS) cannot be in dept. Can't wait until "fiscal responsibility" types are trying to sell off the justice department to the highest bidder because it "is in debt"
  - notatoad 3y ago
    i get your point and mostly agree with it - it's frustrating when people say things like "public transit isn't profitable"... yeah, it's not supposed to be, it's okay for things to cost money. but that's different to being in debt. a public service can absolutely be in debt. it's given a budget, and if it fails to operate within that budget it goes into debt. that might mean the budget is too low, but there's always a point where a service is no longer worth the budget it would take to keep it operating. (not making a judgement on the helium reserve - i really have no context for how necessary or useful it is)
bostonsre 3y ago
Anyone know how much it costs to maintain the reserve infrastructure? Do they have facilities that need to be staffed to keep an eye on it or is do they just need to just have perimeter security?

Jiro 3y ago

This has nothing to do with selling off the reserve, but they have found new resources, see https://www.cnn.com/2016/06/28/africa/helium-discovery-tanzania/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2016/06/28/africa/helium-discovery-tanza... . This one expects to start producing in 2025 (according to more recent articles).

fnordpiglet 3y ago
> The team estimates that just one part of the reserve in Tanzania could be as large as 54 billion cubic feet (BCf), which is enough to fill more than 1.2 million medical MRI scanners. > “To put this discovery into perspective, global consumption of helium is about 8 billion cubic feet (BCf) per year and the United States Federal Helium Reserve, which is the world’s largest supplier, has a current reserve of just 24.2 BCf,” said University of Oxford’s Chris Ballentine, a professor with the Department of Earth Sciences. I’d note this is only enough for 7 years of consumption. I’m not sure what kind of game changer that is.
- zamadatix 3y ago
  As an alternative note that's a single newly discovered pocket with more helium than this reserve held at its peak. Both figures absolutely pale in comparison to how much we throw out because it's not profitable but the fossil fuels it's in are, but that's nothing new.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]