Daily Caller
Is it time to ban helium balloons?
“The scarcity of helium is a really serious issue. I can imagine that in 50 years time our children will be saying, ‘I can’t believe they used such a precious material to fill balloons,’” said the doctor, Peter Wothers.
The non-renewable gas is a necessity in hospitals, where it is used to cool magnets in MRI scanners and mixed with oxygen to allow ill patients and newborn babies to breathe more easily.
Currently, about 75 percent of the world’s helium comes from the United States. Scientists have been unsuccessful in finding a sustainable way of making the gas artificially.
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
According to the report on NPR I heard a few weeks back, there is no scarcity of helium as in a decline in it. Quite the contrary, there’s a glut of it, but the government has been trying to sell off its strategic reserves of helium – and get out of the helium business (a holdover from the 30′s and 40′s, blimps and all) and the private market has responded by holding back their own supply, thus driving up prices.
Logus on December 12, 2012 at 10:25 PM
So, whereas one would think greater supply should decrease price, in this case, increased supply is causing price increases as private producers are deciding just to hold on to their helium and/or sell it at a higher price. I guess the point being, gov’t, if you’re going to get rid of your helium, do it more slowly or just not right now.
Logus on December 12, 2012 at 10:28 PM
H-Bombs. Good luck collecting it though.
zmdavid on December 12, 2012 at 10:31 PM
This is a problem that free market pricing mechanisms will fix.
theperfecteconomist on December 12, 2012 at 10:31 PM
As helium becomes scarce, the price rises. As the price rises, certain uses for helium will necessarily suffer. As certain uses suffer, less helium is used for these uses. As less helium is used for these uses, the percentage use for other uses increases. Problem solved through normal market forces. I have an idea though that may solve the problem without creating shortages. Increase fracking.
NotCoach on December 12, 2012 at 10:33 PM
Helium is the second most abundant element in the known Universe
In 1996, the U.S. had proven helium reserves, in such gas well complexes, of about 147 billion standard cubic feet (4.2 billion SCM). At rates of use at that time (72 million SCM per year in the U.S.; see pie chart below) this is enough helium for about 58 years of U.S. use, and less than this (perhaps 80% of the time) at world use rates, although factors in saving and processing impact effective reserve numbers. It is estimated that the resource base for yet-unproven helium in natural gas in the U.S. is 31–53 trillion SCM, about 1000 times the proven reserves…
Chicken little…second verse, same as the first.
sharrukin on December 12, 2012 at 10:33 PM
They could just open up a valve on their storage tanks.
NotCoach on December 12, 2012 at 10:34 PM
More like statist minded thugs looking for more excuses to rule over us.
NotCoach on December 12, 2012 at 10:35 PM
It seems too that some of the issue is production facilities or lack thereof… sounds similar to petroleum production facilities… you know, higher gas prices (at least in part).
Logus on December 12, 2012 at 10:41 PM
Step 1 Make up a crisis that will necessitate the giving up of more freedom.
Step 2 Have enough pseudo scientific ‘logic’ to shout down naysayers as backward thinking Neanderthals.
Step 3 Repeat the lie until people believe it’s the truth.
QED
Galt2009 on December 12, 2012 at 10:42 PM
Helium is often extracted from natural gas extracted from oil wells. Anyone heard about the helium content of the stuff they’re finding in North Dakota/Ohio/Pennsylvania?
Glenn Jericho on December 12, 2012 at 10:42 PM
Yup. Peak oil, global warming, nuclear winter, the coming ice age, Silent Spring, the ozone hole, Y2K, the population bomb, killer bees, acid rain…what next? I am hoping zombies because at least that has some entertainment value.
sharrukin on December 12, 2012 at 10:44 PM
What? They wanna ban Hot Gas now?
tommy71 on December 12, 2012 at 10:51 PM
Where does all the helium go that leaves the earth? There must be a lot of it in the universe if everything eventually decays into helium and billions of years of decaying has occurred. Maybe that’s the “dark matter” they talk about.
Buddahpundit on December 12, 2012 at 10:53 PM
I think we should just go ahead and ban everything just to be sure. /s
/s tag but standard Lib comment.
baldylox on December 12, 2012 at 11:14 PM
When we are talking about the total mass of the universe the Earth doesn’t even register. It’s like trying to weigh a piece of fly shite on a bathroom scale. And the helium that escapes the Earth eventually is captured by some celestial body with gravity greater than ours.
NotCoach on December 12, 2012 at 11:16 PM
So which NFL player murdered a bunch of people with a balloon?
BigWyo on December 12, 2012 at 11:17 PM
I was talking about everything in the universe decaying into helium. There must be a lot of it.
Buddahpundit on December 12, 2012 at 11:27 PM
Ignoring decay there was always a lot of helium in the universe if we accept the Big Bang theory. After the universe cooled enough so matter could be formed the only two elements to be formed were hydrogen and helium. It is currently estimated that the amount of helium in the universe (measured not by mass, but by the number of atoms relative to other elements) is 24% of all matter (not counting dark matter). Hydrogen makes up 73.9%. The remaining 2.1% are all the other elements combined with oxygen third on the list at 1.04%. So when we look at this way there is just about nothing left that can decay into helium.
NotCoach on December 12, 2012 at 11:51 PM
What they ought to do, is make helium heavier… I know every time I mess around with it, it just floats away.
LegendHasIt on December 12, 2012 at 11:58 PM
I don’t want to live in a world where kids don’t know what it’s like to change their voices with helium.
James on December 13, 2012 at 12:15 AM
Peak Helium?
We can use Hydrogen balloons and have the 4th of July all year.
Oil Can on December 13, 2012 at 12:54 AM
I’ve gotta great idea! Who wants to invest with me in Hindenburg II Industries, Inc.?
Shy Guy on December 13, 2012 at 2:16 AM
Radon balloons. An idea whose time has come.
BDavis on December 13, 2012 at 2:28 AM
Yes! The balloons float out over the ocean, deflate and then whales eat them and die.
Ask any greenie, they’ll explain it to you.
vityas on December 13, 2012 at 4:51 AM
Right up until they have their teeth embedded into your skull.
Frank Enstine on December 13, 2012 at 9:05 AM
When I saw the headline I assumed it was about the woman that died from helium inhalation. I think the story was on Drudge yesterday or the day before.
Frank Enstine on December 13, 2012 at 9:09 AM