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Helium is released from alpha decay (hence unlikely to run out in the near future) and is also obtainable from natural gas. That being said it is still non-rene
by rtrgrd 1y ago
Helium is released from alpha decay (hence unlikely to run out in the near future) and is also obtainable from natural gas. That being said it is still non-renewable (in the sense that once the radioactive decays happen no more helium is released) and has quite volatile prices for some reason.
- foxyv 1y agoFor those who don't know, the helium we use for party balloons is mostly the accumulation of Alpha particles in petroleum reserves. When that helium is released it floats into the upper atmosphere and boils off into space. All other methods of helium acquisition are extremely costly and inefficient. This means that in the next couple hundred years more or less, humanity will run out of helium cheap enough to use for piddly things like MRIs and particle accelerators. It will essentially become the most valuable resource on the planet mostly extracted from volcanic gasses.
- Apocryphon 1y agoWe’ll be mining the Jovian planets at that point.
- foxyv 1y agoWhy? That would be like taking a flight to China to buy a gallon of milk.
- Apocryphon 1y agoWouldn't it be more like going to China to buy herds of cattle?