Massive new helium source is a ‘life saver’

While helium may be best known as the gas people use to fill up balloons and inhale to make their voices sound funny, it is actually a critically important element that has been in short supply as of late, but the discovery of a massive new helium gas field could change everything.

Helium is the second most abundant element in the universe and it’s used in important applications such as MRI scanners, welding, and nuclear energy. Helium is the second most abundant gas in the universe, yet reserves of the element are running out here on Earth, and there may soon be a catastrophic shortage, according to Oxford and Durham University researchers.

However, using a new approach to gas exploration, Durham University Ph.D. student Diveena Danabalan, Oxford Earth Sciences Professor Chris Ballentine and their colleagues have found a potential new source of helium in Tanzanian East African Rift Valley, making this the first time that a cache of this rare gas has ever been intentionally discovered.

Once perfected, new technique could be a ‘game changer’

The UK-based researchers discovered that volcanic activity provides enough heat to release helium from ancient rocks, and that volcanic activity in the Rift Valley has released helium from said rocks, then trapped it in shallower gas fields. The team presented their findings as part of the ongoing Goldschmidt Geochemistry Conference in Yokohama, Japan.

“We show that volcanoes in the Rift play an important role in the formation of viable helium reserves,” Danabalan said in a statement. “Volcanic activity likely provides the heat necessary to release the helium accumulated in ancient crustal rocks. However, if gas traps are located too close to a given volcano, they run the risk of helium being heavily diluted by volcanic gases such as carbon dioxide, just as we see in thermal springs from the region.”

As such, their current goal is to identify the so-called “goldilocks-zone” that exists between the ancient rocks and the modern volcanoes in order to perfectly balance helium release and volcanic dilution. Once they do, independent projections have calculated that they will be able to obtain as much as 45 billion cubic feet (BCf) of helium from just one part of the rift valley. Ballentine said such a haul would be enough to completely fill more than one million MRI scanners.

“To put this discovery into perspective,” the Oxford professor added, “global consumption of helium is about 8 BCf per year and the United States Federal Helium Reserve, which is the world’s largest supplier, has a current reserve of just 24.2 BCf. Total known reserves in the USA are around 153 BCf. This is a game changer for the future security of society’s helium needs and similar finds in the future may not be far away.”

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Image credit: Thinkstock

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