Industry experts warn that helium on Earth is running out
Release time：2025-01-07
At present, the main source of helium is natural gas separation, and with the further utilization of helium, it will decrease year by year.
Experts warn that if helium recovery and reuse are not emphasized, the world's helium reserves will be depleted within 10 years, and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging will be affected; Another manufacturing material for mobile phones and TV screens, Indium, will be used up in 20 years, and the cost of mobile phones will increase.
David Cole Hamilton, a retired chemistry professor at the University of St Andrews in the UK, urged people not to buy helium balloons to play with during gatherings and to save limited helium for purposes such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and deep-sea diving.
The helium used in nuclear magnetic resonance imaging and deep-sea diving can be recycled and reused, while the helium used in decorative balloons is released into the air after use.
Helium is one of the widely used inert gases, but it cannot be produced. Helium on Earth mainly comes from minerals that undergo long-term alpha decay and are stored underground.
In the past 15 years, the price of helium has skyrocketed fivefold.
Cole Hamilton said that Tanzania in East Africa still has 6 years of helium reserves, with the rest in the United States.
Another material used to manufacture mobile phone and TV screens, indium metal, will also be depleted within 20 years. We can still produce mobile phones, but it will be much more expensive, "Cole Hamilton said.
Cole Hamilton reminds that if scientists were to become aware of this issue now, it could prevent this situation from happening. He suggested that people should not change their phones too frequently. In the UK, people change one million phones every month.
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