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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/inde
by 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 agoAs 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.