Last night, our discussion was around a Nobel prize winner, and the world's dwindling supply of helium (He).
It’s the most Noble of gases, meaning it’s very stable and non-reactive for the most part. It is created by the radioactive decay of terrestrial rock and most of the world's reserves have been derived as a by-product from the extraction of natural gas.
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| Some stars show us the way |
Both hydrogen and helium, the first two elements on the Periodic Table are very abundant in the universe (about 92 percent and about 8 percent of the atoms, respectively). Helium is rare on Earth while hydrogen is abundant. Helium does not combine with other atoms while hydrogen does. Hydrogen is one of the two elements that make water. Under standard conditions, there are no combined or molecular forms of helium. Helium is non-renewable and irreplaceable. Its properties are unique and unlike hydrocarbon fuels (natural gas or oil), there are no biosynthetic ways to make an alternative to helium. All should make better efforts to recycle it.
Helium plays a role in nuclear magnetic resonance, mass spectroscopy, welding, fiber optics and computer microchip production, among other technological applications. NASA used large amounts annually to pressurize space shuttle fuel tanks. Helium’s use in science is extremely broad, but its most important use is as a coolant. Liquid helium is vital for its use in cooling the superconducting magnets in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners.
There is no substitute because no other substance has a lower boiling point. Helium is also vital in the manufacture of liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and fiber optics.
But as you may have gathered, I tend to dream big. A couple years ago, I was discussing mining helium from the moon with a colleague. It used to seem far fetched, but now that civilians are undergoing "vacations in the stratosphere", more frequently our conversations drift to mining on asteroids and the moon. Speaking of other planets, another place where helium occurs naturally is, of course, in the gas balls we call stars. Researchers think that the solar wind from our sun may have deposited some helium-3 on the moon’s surface. If we use that up too, we could look a little further, say Uranus or Neptune, which have helium-rich atmospheres.
“The moon is the El Dorado of helium-3,” says [futurist Marshall] Savage, and he’s right: Every star, including our sun, emits helium constantly. Implanted in the lunar soil by the solar wind, the all-important gas can be found on the moon by the bucketful. Associate professor Tim Swindle and his colleagues at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona have already begun prospecting. Swindle has mapped likely helium-3 deposits on the moon by charting the parts of the lunar landscape most exposed to solar wind against the locations of mineral deposits that best trap the element. [Wired]
Back on earth, due to America's push to sell off all of its helium reserves by 2015,
Russia will be the world’s next major source of helium. Russia also has the world’s largest reserves of natural gas, where helium certainly exists. During the retrieval of natural gas, helium is secondary and much of it is wasted. Due to fracking, the helium is quenched (released into the atmosphere), and there is no chance to retrieve it once its gone.
DLA Energy just increased its helium orders from one firm, Dubai-based Global Gases, by 50 percent — from two million cubic feet to three million. Phil Kornbluth, an executive vice president with Global Gases supplier Matheson Gas, says it’s a substantial increase.
This post is dedicated to methanex, but more specifically Ken Vidalin. I am also going to mention Leo Hathaway, a geologist, just for FUN, silly.
