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All natural gas deposits contain helium at various concentrations, it's only commercially worth harvesting above a certain percentage but speculate the problem
by stevenwoo 7mo ago
All natural gas deposits contain helium at various concentrations, it's only commercially worth harvesting above a certain percentage but speculate the problem is the US can't just fill the Qatar loss in supply immediately since we have plentiful natural gas.
- trollbridge 7mo agoMakes sense. We have so much gas where I live that there are places it’s just flared off and burned, because it’s less greenhouse emissions than it escaping unburned.
- GeorgeWBasic 7mo agoIf it's being burned, it isn't helium.
- HPsquared 7mo agoParent is referring to natural gas
- XorNot 7mo agoHelium deposits don't exist is the thing, the same structures in the Earth which trap methane gas also trap helium gas and some of them trap enough to make recovery economically viable.
- HPsquared 7mo agoAnd that helium comes from Alpha decay of Uranium and Thorium.
- hedora 7mo agoToday, I learned Helium does burn, and when it burns, it forms Carbon. https://www.britannica.com/science/chemical-element/Processes-producing-heavier-elements https://www.britannica.com/science/chemical-element/Processe... Granted, the flare gas probably doesn't reach the prerequisite 100M-200M kelvin. I suspect high pressure is also required so the Helium stays close to the heat source.
- roywiggins 7mo agoAn unusually large helium deposit in the US made the news recently, not sure if it's being exploited: https://www.minnpost.com/other-nonprofit-media/2024/07/what-to-know-about-minnesotas-richest-in-the-world-helium-deposit/ https://www.minnpost.com/other-nonprofit-media/2024/07/what-...