Good read for those interested in the Helium supply as it pertains to technology. Take the financial advice at your own risk. We’re simply seeing it from the perspective of the quantum computing supply chain. Because Quantum is Coming. Qubit
Bezos, Branson and Musk Scrambling For Supply Of This Rare Gas
+ And the amount of big data being stored continues to grow at an unimaginable pace, with Amazon, Google, IBM, Apple, Facebook, and countless others binge-collecting with no end in sight. Some estimates suggest that at least 2.5 quintillion bytes of data is produced every single day. That’s a number followed by 18 zeros.
We’ve had supply scares for this gas before; but this time around, it coincides with the depletion of the US federal reserve and soaring demand from some of the biggest industries on earth. The tech industry is likely to find itself scrambling to secure supply…
+ This gas is behind our race to dominate quantum computing and to develop rocket technology, too. Even bitcoin mining may be dependent on helium, which is used as a coolant.
+ But we’ve reached a major inflection point: Right as we realize the increasing global demand that can only continue to rise, one of the key providers of helium is shutting down, and new discoveries appear to be few and far between. And the paradox is that helium is both the second-most common element in the universe and one of the rarest in concentrations on earth.
+ Until now, we’ve always had the U.S. Federal Helium Reserve (FHR) in Amarillo, Texas, to rely on. Since the Cold War, the Fed has been stockpiling helium, providing some 40% of the world’s supply.
+ Most of that has been used up now. Between 2005 and 2018, the FHR sold off more than $2 billion in helium reserves. Now, it’s mostly been depleted, and in September, the reserve will be shut down, while the existing price ceiling will probably disappear.
+ And if we don’t find more, we risk losing it all. Helium is one of the few elements that can escape gravity and leak into space, chemist Andrea Sella of University College London told the BBC. “[Helium] is unique. When it’s gone it is lost to us forever.”
Source: OIL PRICE.com. Editorial Dept, Bezos, Branson and Musk Scrambling For Supply Of This Rare Gas…
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