Journal chill's Journal: Helium Shortage Hits Home 1
I went to buy a balloon for my daughter's birthday last weekend and was told the store couldn't get any helium. A shortage currently has driven up prices and right now hospitals and other critical infrastructure have priority when purchasing. Helium is used to cool the magnets in MRI machines.
There is a finite and dwindling supply of helium on planet Earth. The vast bulk of it seems to reside in Texas. It looks to run out in the next 25 - 100 years.
Besides parades featuring large floating cartoon characters, NASA, the military and microprocessor manufacturers are large consumers of helium.
Interestingly enough, the Moon is speculated to have large deposits of helium that have accumulated from the solar wind. Maybe a lack of supply of this critical element on Earth will spur more interest in returning to the Moon.
There is plenty here still (Score:1)
Oil and gas companies vent it off. Why sell it for $5 a pound when you can throw some away and sell the rest for $50?
As a bonus, they won't have to spend money to make the capital improvements to store the helium they separate until some far future quarter, so their financials look solid in the meantime.