Endangered elements: Let's save helium.
Endangered elements: Let's save helium.
We are all more or less familiar with the periodic table of the elements, a graphic representation of all the elements that make up all the matter around us, and even ourselves. Published by the Russian Dimitri Mendeleyev in 1869, since then new elements have been added as they were discovered. In total, today it contains 118 elements, the last ones added in 2015.
44 of them are on the verge of disappearance. Not of the table, but of the world. The elements, like the living beings, are extinguished, and a good handful of elements are close to making them or they will be in that situation in the next century. They are all collected in this version of the periodic table that marks in yellow, orange and red the elements threatened according to their critical threat. Among them, some that we will miss if they end up disappearing.
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CC BY 3.0
The reason why they have received this classification is different in each of them, but they have to do with the scarcity of supply with respect to demand, non-existent or inefficient recycling practices, the difficulty in extracting them.
Helium: The second most abundant element in the universe.
It is curious the case of helium. This gas is among the most abundant in the universe and therefore it is ironic to classify it as a seriously threatened element during the next 100 years. The problem is that it is a gas so light that it escapes from the Earth's atmosphere without difficulty, which means that the amount of helium present on Earth only decreases.
Source
CC BY-SA 2.0 UK
And that's a job because helium is very useful for us: from filling fun balloons at parties and parades to cooling magnets in devices such as medical image scanners or particle accelerators. To avoid its extinction, there would be, on the one hand, that try to recycle the helium used for these purposes and thus give it a new use, and on the other develop processes that capture the helium that is produced in natural gas extractions and avoid letting this precious resource escape.
But why would anyone do it?
Currently, helium is an element too cheap: it costs very little to buy it, and therefore no one is interested in recycling it or finding new ways to produce it.
The three problems that this implies.
On the one hand, there are the environmental aggressions caused by mining and the processes of extractions of some metals and minerals, which besides being in themselves harmful, depend on fossil fuels that produce large amounts of polluting emissions, harmful to climate change and directly for human health.
The other is the need to keep industries supplied with the materials they need, such as gallium, which is only generated as byproducts of foundries and other industrial processes.
But there is a third risk: the concentration of many of these elements that are scarce or that are expected to be scarce in the near future in certain areas, such as China or Africa, which may lead to new geopolitical tensions and equilibria in the coming decades.
Therefore, we do not remain alone in whales, pandas and other adorable animals (and I take advantage of this closure to also claim the protection of ugly animals, of which we will talk about another day) and protect also the threatened elements.
References.
- http://www.pnas.org/content/112/14/4257.full
- http://assisted-dying.org/blog/2015/04/24/australian-warning-on-diluted-helium-tanks/
- Endangered Elements
- https://www.thoughtco.com/most-abundant-gas-in-the-earths-atmosphere-604006
- http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2010/03/17/why-is-helium-so-scarce/
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It's quite sad and ironic, we're using up the supplies on party balloons.
As for why it's cheap and still considered threatened, I believe there was a big stockpile that got dumped on the market at some point, and we're still filling up the party balloons from it - but in a decade or two the party will be over.
Found it: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/a-ballooning-problem-the-great-helium-shortage-8439108.html
But 2015 has passed, and Helium is still cheap.
That article also contradicts itself quite a bit, complaining that Helium is too cheap, still having case stories about facilities shut down due to problems sourcing Helium at reasonable prices. Weird.
Yes super weird. For me, the article pursues a double purpose, even if I emphasize a bit the problem still does not break it down correctly. And another thing is if the USA really gave their reserves in helium made a very bad move
I read a bit more on it.
This reserve storage was leaking, and it was costly to maintain, particularly the latter point drove the decision to sell off the helium.
If I understand it right, it's not that super-trivial to just take the helium out of the storage - it has to be tapped at constant rate, so it's totally unsuitable as a buffer. It's also nearly empty, with the tapping rate being much lower than when they started selling off helium.
Helium is notoriously difficult to store, this causes a quite inelastic market situation and can explain that there are temporary outages in the same time as there generally is a glut in the market. However, googling for helium price charts, I didn't find much volatility. Prices have steadily been rising over the years.
Yes, in fact, one of the main storage methods is to combine it in tanks with 20% oxygen. But it has great limitations.
You can check this article.
http://assisted-dying.org/blog/2015/04/24/australian-warning-on-diluted-helium-tanks/
As I understand the quoted article, they've started selling party balloon helium in the Australia with 20% added oxygen in order to prevent deaths from people inhaling the helium (either as a party trick getting squeeky voices, or as a means of suicide). The article recommends anyone planning to suicide by helium inhalation to check that their helium doesn't contain significant amounts of oxygen.
Certainly it is possible, now there are many clashes over natural resources. Now imagine that these natural resources are depleted and helium is the most demanded, certainly that would cause many conflicts
You made me think of a possible War about Helium.
Certainly, it is possible, now there are many clashes over natural resources. Now imagine that these natural resources are depleted and helium is the most demanded, certainly that would cause many conflicts.
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Good read and a topic that I guess a lot of people have never considered!