Is Earth's Helium Running Out? - Total Helium (2024)

FAQs

Is Earth's Helium Running Out? - Total Helium? ›

Yes, the Earth is running out of helium because it is a nonrenewable resource.

As helium is a non-renewable resource, the Earth is certainly running out of it. Why is the world running out of helium? Helium is the only element on the periodic table which is a non-renewable resource on Earth.

Others suggest between 100 and 200 years of helium usage could be a best estimate. Regardless of the estimates, the knock-on effects to industry could be huge, not to mention the constant volatile nature of helium prices. All “explainer” articles are confirmed by fact checkers to be correct at time of publishing.

Once the gas leaks into the atmosphere, it is light enough to escape the Earth's gravitational field so it bleeds off into space, never to return. We may run out of helium within 25–30 years because it's being consumed so freely.

There's a finite amount of helium on Earth. The largest reserves are in massive underground pockets in parts of Algeria, Qatar, Russia and the U.S. While the Texas stockpile is the largest source of helium in the U.S., it's not the only one.

Can helium be made artificially? Helium can be found in abundance all over the universe. In fact, it is the second most abundant element known to man. Because of its chemical composition, it is not possible to produce helium artificially, which is why it is extracted from natural gas wells.

Argon can be used instead of Helium and is favoured for some metals. Helium is used for many lighter-than-air applications, and Hydrogen is a possible substitute for many where the flammability of Hydrogen is not a concern.

Apart from being the world's main producer and one of the largest helium consumers, the U.S holds the most extensive helium reserves worldwide. As of 2023, the country's helium reserves amounted to more than 8.5 billion cubic meters, surpassing the reserves of runners-up Algeria and Russia combined.

Helium shortages seem unlikely

Already, shortages have been easing since the second half of 2023 amid a dip in demand from the chip industry, and major changes in helium supply would not be likely in the short term during the government review.

It takes 16 cubic feet of helium to lift 1 pound. It takes . 5 cubic feet of helium to lift half a slice of bread.

Can we get helium back? ›

Atmospheric recovery of helium is nearly impossible.

All released balloons, including those falsely marketed as “biodegradable latex,” return to Earth as ugly litter. They kill countless animals and cause dangerous power outages. Balloons are also a waste of Helium, a finite resource. Balloons can travel thousands of miles and pollute the most remote and pristine places.

It follows the National Research Council (NRC) report released in 20001 that assessed the impacts of the Helium Privatization Act of 1996 by which Congress directed the government to sell essentially all of the helium reserve to compensate it, the government, for its investment in the helium and in the helium's storage ...

If our supply ran out, it could spell the end of MRI testing, LCD screens and birthday party balloons. Or it could make all of those things much more expensive. Although argon — another inert gas — can be substituted for helium for welding purposes, no other element can do what helium can do in super cold applications.

“However, the good news is that we're not running out of helium,” Trønnes says. The Earth's interior is absolutely enormous, and this is where the helium comes from. “It will continue to seep out through rocks and cracks forever,” he says.

Keeping an MRI's magnetic current superconductive requires extreme cold. That's where helium comes in: With a boiling point of minus 452 degrees Fahrenheit, liquid helium is the coldest element on Earth. Pumped inside an MRI magnet, helium lets the current travel resistance-free.

Helium shortages seem unlikely

Already, shortages have been easing since the second half of 2023 amid a dip in demand from the chip industry, and major changes in helium supply would not be likely in the short term during the government review.

The new research supports the idea that helium-3 is leaking from Earth's core and has been for some time, but the researchers aren't entirely sure when this process began. “The lavas are about 60 million years old, and the ascent of the mantle plume took perhaps tens of millions of years,” Horton said.

According to Nobel laureate Prof Robert Richardson of Cornell University, the US supplies 80 per cent of the helium used in the world at a very cheap rate and these supplies will run out in 25 to 30 years' time.

Helium is used to cool thermographic cameras and equipment used by search and rescue teams and medical personnel to detect and monitor certain physiological processes. Various industries use helium to detect gas leaks in their products. Helium is a safe tracer gas because it is inert.