[cdn-nucl-l] Helium scarcity blamed on waste

["Jerry Cuttler" <jerrycuttler@rogers.com>]

Interesting letter ...
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APS, Physics Today, Dec 2007, Letters
Helium scarcity blamed on waste
December 2007, page 10

At first thought it may seem strange that we should be facing a scarcity of 
helium, the second most abundant element in the universe and widespread on 
Earth. But according to a recent story in PHYSICS TODAY (June 2007, page 
31), serious shortages are coming, with the world supply dwindling and the 
price about to soar. Unfortunately, we have brought the coming shortage on 
ourselves by our carelessness and inattention to conservation.

Through disregard and a lack of foresight, enormous amounts of helium have 
been unnecessarily lost. Closely associated with petroleum deposits, helium 
is present in the mixture of gases that accompany petroleum production. In 
many cases producers have been interested in producing only oil from the oil 
fields. Because the natural gas accompanying crude oil production often 
could not be transported economically to markets, it was simply released to 
the atmosphere and wasted, along with the helium present in the mixture. 
Unfortunately, those practices persist in some petroleum-producing areas. 
Even now, the estimates indicate that in the range of 150-170 billion meters 
of natural gas are routinely flared or vented annually.1,2

The natural gas that is regularly released into the atmosphere, either 
directly or after burning, during the production of oil and gas not only 
amounts to wasted resources but also contributes to the destructive effects 
of additional greenhouse gas emissions. Flaring and venting of natural gas 
in oil wells has been a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions and 
thus may contribute to climate change.3,4 The shameful and unnecessary waste 
of helium at the sources continues to be accompanied by equally unnecessary 
contributions to greenhouse gases.

We must take a more serious and committed attitude toward our natural 
resources; curtailing the unnecessary waste of both methane and helium in 
flaring and venting would be an important step to take.

References

1.  World Bank, "Global Gas Flaring Reduction," [LINK].
2.  C. D. Elvidge, K. E. Baugh, B. T. Tuttle, A. T. Howard, D. W. Pack, C. 
Milesi, E. H. Erwin, "A Twelve Year Record of National and Global Gas 
Flaring Volumes Estimated Using Satellite Data, Final Report to the World 
Bank-May 30, 2007," [LINK]; National Geophysical Data Center, "Global Gas 
Flaring Estimates," [LINK].
3.  G. Marland, T. A. Boden, R. J. Andres, "Global, Regional, and National 
Fossil Fuel CO2 Emissions," in Online Trends: A Compendium of Data on Global 
Change, Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Oak Ridge National 
Laboratory, US Department of Energy, Oak Ridge, TN (2007), available at 
[LINK].
4.  Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, Climate 
Justice Programme, Gas Flaring in Nigeria: A Human Rights, Environmental and 
Economic Monstrosity, ERA/FOE Nigeria and CJP, Amsterdam, (2005), available 
at [LINK].

Caroline L. Herzenberg
Chicago, Illinois