'Earth's helium reserves to run out by 2030' (2024)

FAQs

'Earth's helium reserves to run out by 2030'? ›

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.

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. Earth's helium reserves will run out by 2030, a leading expert has claimed.

“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.

The U.S. Helium Reserve, located deep underground Amarillo, Texas, is slated to be shut down by 2021; it has provided 30% of the world's supply for many years. Uncertainty about how private markets will distribute and price helium is a concern, especially to scientific researchers using small amounts of helium.

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.

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.

The United States' reserves were purchased in 1925 and will be gone in only a hundred years from getting it. Once the Helium is released into the atmosphere it is gone forever. There is no chemical way of manufacturing Helium. The reserves the U.S. has came from very slow radioactive alpha decay that occurs in rock.

Because of its chemical composition, it is not possible to produce helium artificially, which is why it is extracted from natural gas wells.

tl;dr: Yes we are running out. Everyone uses products of the many industries that require helium, and there is no way to cheaply make more. Many people do not realize that helium is a non-renewable resource. It is made on earth via nuclear decay of uranium, and it is recovered from mines.

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 ...

Who owns the most helium on Earth? ›

Helium in the U.S.

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.

The strategic supply provisioned the noble gas for airships, and in the 1950s became an important source of coolant during the Cold War and Space Race. The facilities are located close to the Hugoton and other natural gas fields in southwest Kansas and the panhandle of Oklahoma, plus the Panhandle Field in Texas.

Helium is the only element on the planet that is a completely nonrenewable resource. On Earth, helium is generated deep underground through the natural radioactive decay of elements such as uranium and thorium.

Liquid helium, the coldest element on Earth, is needed to keep the magnets in MRI machines running. Without it, doctors would lose a critical medical tool.

Helium has no known biological role. It is non-toxic. After hydrogen, helium is the second most abundant element in the universe.

tl;dr: Yes we are running out. Everyone uses products of the many industries that require helium, and there is no way to cheaply make more. Many people do not realize that helium is a non-renewable resource. It is made on earth via nuclear decay of uranium, and it is recovered from mines.

This nonrenewable element is found deep within the Earth's crust and is in short supply, according to NBC reports. The global helium shortage is due mainly to decreased supply from major producers, including Russia which has curtailed production since the war in Ukraine, according to The Harvard Crimson.

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.