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Helium: A Valuable Gas Not To Be Taken Lightly

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Helium makes up 25% of the atoms in the known universe, so one would guess that the inert gas would be quite plentiful on Earth.

Unfortunately, a familiar property of helium prevents this from happening. Helium gas is lighter than air and literally rises into space, depleting the Earth of almost all valuable helium resources over time.

Where do we get helium?

So how do we actually obtain new helium gas, which is necessary for important technological applications such as MRI machines, superconductors, and even the Large Hadron Collider?

Today’s infographic from Helium One shows everything you need to know on helium, including where we can find it on Earth, as well as the most important uses of the gas.

Helium: A Valuable Gas Not To Be Taken Lightly

Although helium is plentiful in the universe, on Earth it is quite rare and difficult to obtain.

Why Do We Need Helium?

Helium has several properties that make it invaluable to modern humans, particularly for technological uses:

Helium PropertyBenefits
InertDoesn’t react with other elements, and doesn’t explode like hydrogen
Non-toxicCan be used by humans in a variety of applications
Lighter than airAbility to lift and/or float
Melting point -272ËšCLiquid at ultra-cool temps enables superconductivity
Small molecular sizeCan be used to find the smallest of leaks

Helium Demand

Helium demand has risen consistently since 2009, and the market has been increasing at a CAGR of 10.1% since 2010. With that in mind, here are the specific constituents of helium demand today:

Helium UseGlobal ShareDescription
Cryogenics23%Superconductors use ultracooled helium liquid.
Lifting15%Used in airships and balloons
Electronics14%Used to manufacture silicon wafers
Optical Fiber11%Necessary to make optical fiber cables
Welding9%Used as a shielding gas for welding
Leak Detection6%Helium particles are small, and can find the tiniest leaks
Analytics6%Used in chromatography and other applications
Pressure & Purging5%Used in rocket systems
Diving3%Mixed into commercial diving tanks for various reasons
Other8%Helium's diverse properties give it many other minor uses

Helium’s melting point, which is the lowest found in nature, allows it to remain as a liquid at the coolest possible temperature. This makes helium ideal for uses in superconductors, including MRI machines – one of the fastest growing components of helium demand.

Helium Supply

But where do we obtain this elusive gas?

It turns out that new helium is actually created every day in very tiny amounts within the Earth’s crust as a by-product of radioactive decay. And like other gases below the Earth’s surface (i.e. natural gas), helium gets trapped in geological formations in economical amounts.

Today, much of helium is either produced as a by-product of natural gas deposits, or from helium-primary gas deposits with concentrations up to 7% He.

Here’s helium production by country:

Country2016 production (in billion cubic feet)Share
USA2.241%
USA (from Cliffside Field)0.814%
Algeria0.46%
Australia0.13%
Poland0.11%
Qatar1.832%
Russia0.12%
Total5.4100%

USA (from Cliffside Field)
The USA government has a helium stockpile at the Cliffside Field in Texas, developed as part of a WWI initiative. It is in the process of being phased out, and by as late as 2021 it will no longer contribute to supply.

Qatar
In December 2013, the Qatar Helium 2 project was opened. This new facility combined with the first helium project makes the country the 2nd largest source of helium globally.

Russia
Russia is looking to become a player in helium as well. Gazprom’s Amur LNG project will be one of the biggest gas facilities in the world, and it will include a helium processing plant. This won’t be online until 2024, though.

Tanzania
Though not a helium player yet, scientists have recently uncovered a major helium find in the Rift Valley of Tanzania which contains an estimated 99 billion cubic feet of gas.

The Future of the Helium Market?

Because of inflated demand, especially for cryogenics in MRI machines, helium prices have risen significantly over the years.

And with these market dynamics in mind, it’s clear that the future of helium is not full of hot air.

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Charted: The Jobs Most Impacted by AI

We visualized the results of an analysis by the World Economic Forum, which uncovered the jobs most impacted by AI.

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Charted: The Jobs Most Impacted by AI

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Large language models (LLMs) and other generative AI tools haven’t been around for very long, but they’re expected to have far-reaching impacts on the way people do their jobs. With this in mind, researchers have already begun studying the potential impacts of this transformative technology.

In this graphic, we’ve visualized the results of a World Economic Forum report, which estimated how different job departments will be exposed to AI disruption.

Data and Methodology

To identify the job departments most impacted by AI, researchers assessed over 19,000 occupational tasks (e.g. reading documents) to determine if they relied on language. If a task was deemed language-based, it was then determined how much human involvement was needed to complete that task.

With this analysis, researchers were then able to estimate how AI would impact different occupational groups.

DepartmentLarge impact (%)Small impact (%)No impact (%)
IT73261
Finance70219
Customer Sales671617
Operations651817
HR57412
Marketing56413
Legal46504
Supply Chain431839

In our graphic, large impact refers to tasks that will be fully automated or significantly altered by AI technologies. Small impact refers to tasks that have a lesser potential for disruption.

Where AI will make the biggest impact

Jobs in infogramtion technology (IT) and finance have the highest share of tasks expected to be largely impacted by AI.

Within IT, tasks that are expected to be automated include software quality assurance and customer support. On the finance side, researchers believe that AI could be significantly useful for bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing.

Still interested in AI? Check out this graphic which ranked the most commonly used AI tools in 2023.

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