Current Events > Why do we waste helium?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Supposedly earth only has a finite supply of helium. And we waste it on balloons. Imagine if someday we figure out it's needed for something important, after we ran out

Large hydrone collider can make a new one pori

Party City probably cut a check to a few congressmen.

likely needed for superconductors and we waste on balloons. yes it's stupid.

So that we can learn to pick ourselves up, Bruce

A balloon full of helium is only wasted if you don't use the helium to chipmunk your voice.

Pororin posted...

Large hydrone collider can make a new one pori

more helium needed.

Zikten posted...

Supposedly earth only has a finite supply of helium. And we waste it on balloons. Imagine if someday we figure out it's needed for something important, after we ran out

While it's true that Helium exists in finite quantities, it turns out that happens to be true for a lot of things.

For real though Helium is the second most common element in the universe I think we're ok if we waste it on balloons. A bigger problem is that a stupid ass regulation has made it too expensive to recycle.

Besides, the Helium used in balloons and the Helium used in medical and scientific equipment are not the same

kingdrake2 posted...

more helium needed.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/6fa1e952.jpg

Pororin posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/6fa1e952.jpg

That's methane

I'd like to visit a helium mine and see how they capture it to put in balloons.

Zikten posted...

Imagine if someday we figure out it's needed for something important

It already is, wasting it on balloons has always been dumb

ROBANN_88 posted...

That's methane

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/4/4cc9b03f.jpg

The comedic gift of using it to alter your voice is worth it.

(Helium) is neither created nor destroyed.

dummy420 posted...

The comedic gift of using it to alter your voice is worth it.

He-he-he-he-heliummmm.... If you say so....

ROBANN_88 posted...

Besides, the Helium used in balloons and the Helium used in medical and scientific equipment are not the same

I think they are unless you're talking about specific isotopes for chemistry or nuclear physics purposes.

To expedite space exploration so well have to go mining for helium on asteroids.

Seaman_Prime posted...

To expedite space exploration so well have to go mining for helium on asteroids.

You've played too many video games. When we've hit the point that we are mining asteroids then congrats we've already won.

Tyranthraxus posted...

You've played too many video games. When we've hit the point that we are mining asteroids then congrats we've already won.

Bullshit! I havent played nearly enough video games!

Sounds like helium well spent.

Because we view it through the Libertarian mindset: everything is infinite and therefore tipe for capitalism.

Zikten posted...

Imagine if someday we figure out it's needed for something important

It's needed in MRI machines thus we already know things important it's required for.

Tyranthraxus posted...

While it's true that Helium exists in finite quantities, it turns out that happens to be true for a lot of things.

For real though Helium is the second most common element in the universe I think we're ok if we waste it on balloons. A bigger problem is that a stupid ass regulation has made it too expensive to recycle.

it doesnt matter how common it its in the universe. We aint out there mining it.

mustachedmystic posted...

it doesnt matter how common it its in the universe. We aint out there mining it.

We have a staggeringly vast quantity. It's like asking "why do we waste rocks?"

Because we can afford to waste it. That's the reason. We have so much of it that we literally can't use it all in 1000 years even if we tried our hardest.

Tyranthraxus posted...

We have a staggeringly vast quantity.

it can do great things...

high pitched voice... diabeetus.

Robot2600 posted...

likely needed for superconductors and we waste on balloons. yes it's stupid.

Agreed. Really stupid.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Helium is an element

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it goes into the air, but we harvest it from pockets in the ground

https://rockymountainair.com/blog/how-is-helium-extracted/

Hopefully the helium crisis is solved, but right now, it's just up in the air.

Tyranthraxus posted...

I think they are unless you're talking about specific isotopes for chemistry or nuclear physics purposes.

i meant more like purity and stuff

Giant_Aspirin posted...

https://rockymountainair.com/blog/how-is-helium-extracted/

this article makes it sound like we might not have as much as it seems. or at the very least as much easily accessible

Shotgunnova posted...

Hopefully the helium crisis is solved, but right now, it's just up in the air.

There's no "real" crisis. It's entirely cause by idiots being idiots.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Helium_Reserve

I can't find a good deep dive into the issue right now but this is the pertinent part:

By 1995, a billion cubic metres of the gas had been collected, and the reserve was US$1.4 billion in debt, prompting Congress to begin phasing out the reserve in 1996.[5][6] The resulting Helium Privatization Act of 1996 (Public Law 104273) directed the Department of the Interior to start selling off the reserve by 2005.[7]

Helium gas production on March 8, 1923
Government sales flooded the market with cheap helium, causing much of the private helium industry to shut down; the facility remained in government hands.[8] The Helium Stewardship Act of 2013 mandated higher prices but a continued selldown to 3 billion cubic feet remaining by October 1, 2018, which was achieved with auctions.[9] It also set a deadline of September, 30, 2021 for sale of the reserve.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) transferred the reserve to the General Services Administration (GSA) as surplus property, but a 2022 auction[10] failed to finalize a sale.[11] On June 22, 2023, the GSA announced a new auction of the facilities and remaining helium.[12] The auction of the last helium assets was due to take place in November, 2023.[13] Though the last of the Cliffside reserve was to be sold by November 2023, more natural gas was discovered at the site than was previously known, and the Bureau of Land Management extended the auction to January 25, 2024 to allow for increased bids.[14] As of January 25, 2024, it is expected that the remaining reserve will be sold to the highest bidder, Messer Group.[15]

It's not mentioned in that text but another key fact here is that the sale had to take place regardless of price so for people needing to source helium it was much cheaper to just buy more from the reserves rather than recycle.

Less recycling leads to more fracking and so on.

People always think it's stupid that Superman looks just like humans but they haven't really convinced me that we aren't actually living on Krypton in the past yet.

dummy420 posted...

The comedic gift of using it to alter your voice is worth it.

https://youtu.be/atR08mg1484?si=6sB6G4x4h0_g7IO7

Remember thinking balloons float if you blew them up with your mouth?

5 years of joy or whatever (7, 10, 12, etc)

Won't be rare anymore once we master nuclear fusion power. The "nuclear waste" from it is primarily non-radioactive isotopes of Helium (which can be fairly easily separated from anything that's not Helium, and the unstable isotopes of Helium decay extremely quickly so a few weeks of storage will get rid of them).

NoxObscuras posted...

https://youtu.be/atR08mg1484?si=6sB6G4x4h0_g7IO7

Haha that's pretty good.

Is helium bad for the environment tho

We need to start harvesting helium from other planets

Xethuminra posted...

Is helium bad for the environment tho

No. If it escapes into the air, it tends to float up and escape Earth's atmosphere altogether. It's also possibly the least reactive substance known to humans, so it isn't likely to be doing any damage on its way out.

The only danger it really poses is if it displaces too much oxygen, which is only going to happen in enclosed spaces.

That's interesting.

You'd figure it would react with stuff on the way but I guess not

Xethuminra posted...

That's interesting.

You'd figure it would react with stuff on the way but I guess not

Helium is almost completely inert. It's the exact opposite of Fluorine, metaphorically speaking.

Got me thinking about Fluorine

still, the helium can't be good in ways we don't measure

Xethuminra posted...

Got me thinking about Fluorine

still, the helium can't be good in ways we don't measure

It's gonna be neutral at worst. You can't get "carbon dioxide lakes" but with helium and it's not a GHG. The most dangerous thing about helium is probably that it's kept in high pressure tanks that could explode and injure / kill people with debris.

The mining process is bad but that's a different issue entirely.

Tyranthraxus posted...

It's gonna be neutral at worst. You can't get "carbon dioxide lakes" but with helium and it's not a GHG. The most dangerous thing about helium is probably that it's kept in high pressure tanks that could explode and injure / kill people with debris.

The mining process is bad but that's a different issue entirely.

Ionization or something

:)

More like this

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Iirc, it gasses out into space, I dont know the proper word for the process.

Zikten posted...

Supposedly earth only has a finite supply of helium. And we waste it on balloons. Imagine if someday we figure out it's needed for something important, after we ran out

It's only as finite as the alpha decay of radioactive elements is.

Xethuminra posted...

Got me thinking about Fluorine

still, the helium can't be good in ways we don't measure

You know you're a pessimist when you keep going "Still, science... Helium HAS to be bad in SOME way..."