The world Is Wasting Our IRREPLACEABLE helium, And Nobody Cares

[JMAC]

" it’s named for Helios, the ancient greek sun god, because it was discovered on the Sun, spectroscopically, before it was ever found on Earth."

" Helium may be abundant in the Universe, but it’s rare and precious in the sense that this world only gives us a one-time shot of easily harvestable, accessible, abundant stores of it. Once we waste it, it’s gone forever..."

" ...helium is extremely limited in abundance on Earth’s surface, and we’re making no effort to conserve it. We waste it on balloons and birthday parties, and the National Helium Reserve has been ordered to sell itself off. "

https://medium.com/starts-with-a-ban...s-8b6987bd88b5
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I care. I read about this some time ago. Someone opined that a helium birthday balloon should cost $100. If that's the case, it shouldn't be used for that at all, IMO.
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[Questortapes74]

Hello JMAC. I enjoy the light that you provide in your posts in this specific forum. Thanks. I will leave you a quote and lyrics that tie into the themes you are addressing:

"Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity — in all this vastness — there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. It is up to us," Carl Sagan.


Spirits in the Material World
The Police

Lyrics

There is no political solution
To our troubled evolution
Have no faith in constitution
There is no bloody revolution

We are spirits in the material world
Are spirits in the material world
Are spirits in the material world
Are spirits in the material world

Our so-called leaders speak
With words they try to jail you
They subjugate the meek
But it's the rhetoric of failure

We are spirits in the material world
Are spirits in the material world
Are spirits in the material world
Are spirits in the material world

Where does the answer lie?
Living from day to day
If it's something we can't buy
There must be another way

We are spirits in the material world
Are spirits in the material world
Are spirits in the material world
Are spirits in the material world
Are spirits in the material world
Are spirits in the material world

Peace!!!

[Cohibaman]

It's a touchy and tricky subject… Helium will never really run out on Earth; it's just that it's not being produced naturally within the earth as fast as we are consuming it. The reason it's so cheap is because the United States reserve was opened up in 1996 causing the prices to fall. If the prices start going up because demand goes up, natural gas producers will begin to separate and sell helium because it'll be economically viable. But that $0.50 balloon will be hard to find.

[JGM411]

I buy Helium all the time.

In the last 25 years, He prices has risen from $50 per 2000# tank to $275 today.

A couple years ago, PraxAir shut off sales to most every customer except medical. However, that has changed.

btw: I believe He can be manufactured....you just need a nuclear reactor to do it.

[doggiehowser]

How much He do you need to Chipmunk impressions? [emoji51]

[JMAC]

Originally Posted by Questortapes74

Hello JMAC. I enjoy the light that you provide in your posts in this specific forum. Thanks. I will leave you a quote and lyrics that tie into the themes you are addressing:

Thank you Questortapes74

[JMAC]

Originally Posted by Cohibaman

It's a touchy and tricky subject… Helium will never really run out on Earth; it's just that it's not being produced naturally within the earth as fast as we are consuming it. The reason it's so cheap is because the United States reserve was opened up in 1996 causing the prices to fall. If the prices start going up because demand goes up, natural gas producers will begin to separate and sell helium because it'll be economically viable. But that $0.50 balloon will be hard to find.

Not sure about that: " Certainly, there are other options for harvesting it, but they’re all astronomically expensive. "

[Ricpan]

You don't need a reactor to produce helium. I have worked in air separation for nearly 40 years. We can produce it and have produced it were I work. When and if the price is right we will produce it again. We take it right out of the air.

[crwilli]

Originally Posted by Ricpan

You don't need a reactor to produce helium. I have worked in air separation for nearly 40 years. We can produce it and have produced it were I work. When and if the price is right we will produce it again. We take it right out of the air.

Where did you work? There are two former APCI folks on this forum including myself.
Craig