It's not easy to understand. The noble gas helium is the second most abundant element in the universe after hydrogen. In the nuclear fusion in the interior of our sun, it is constantly produced in large quantities. At the same time there are always warnings that the supply could be scarce here on earth. Even a few weeks ago, the US, the world's largest helium producer, banned private companies from buying supplies from the Texas Cliffside storage area. This again is one of the country's most important helium production sites. But that is largely empty.
What's going on there? Raw materials experts from the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) have now taken a closer look at the production and market situation for helium and four other noble gases. The results were presented at a conference in Hanover. The most important message: helium is not as short as it seems.
Although helium was classified by both the EU and the US as a critical raw material last. "It can be assumed that this assessment will change in the coming years," says BGR expert Harald Elsner. In several countries, especially in Russia, some very large helium projects are currently being developed. "In the future, they will be able to fully offset the declining US share in helium production."
Unlike the noble gases neon, argon, krypton and xenon, helium is not extracted from the air. Because the concentration is so low, it is instead separated as part of natural gas. For decades, the US has been the only producer in the Western world, according to the BGR. In the meantime Algeria, Qatar, Australia and finally also Canada have started production. Poland and Russia also produced helium, so that the US share of global production was only 55 percent last. There are large, previously unused deposits in Tanzania, among others.
Always new applications for Xenon
The global production volume in 2017 was just under 165 million cubic meters. Currently, the cubic meter of helium costs between 6 and 7 euros for major customers. The inert gas is used in medicine for the operation of magnetic resonance tomography (MRT), but also as a welding inert gas, suspension gas for zeppelins and balloons as well as in research.
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MRI examination (archive picture)
According to experts, the situation is much more strained than with helium in the noble gas xenon. This is the rarest of the five noble gases studied. Around 12,200 cubic meters were produced worldwide last year. Incidentally, two of the approximately 20 turbines are located in Germany, at Linde in Unterschleissheim and at Air Liquide Germany in Krefeld. The world market price for xenon is currently 11,000 euros per cubic meter.
However, demand has been exceeding supply for years. That is why commodity experts expect further price increases. "The reason is that there are always new areas of application for xenon, and because of the increasing demand for this gas, prices will rise regularly for a few years," says Elsner.
Xenon is currently used as a light source, laser gas, in the semiconductor industry and as a high-tech anesthetic. Also for the drives of satellites it should be used in the future increasingly.