Helium is on everyone’s minds right now. As mentioned in my last blog post, a flurry of media attention has emerged on the helium shortage lately. It’s not just media hype or the balloon retailers who are talking about it. As I learned via Twitter, helium has been a big topic of discussion at the most recent Independent Welding Distributors Cooperative meeting in Orlando. Certainly there are a lot of questions surrounding helium, and hopefully an email exchange I had earlier this week can shed some light on these questions.
As indicated in Eyeing Potential Shortages In 2012 (thanks to the insights of Nick Haines, head of global helium source development at Linde), there are two helium plants slated to come on stream in 2012, and until the new plants are on stream, supply is likely to remain tight. From the current situation, I’d say Haines was right about supply remaining tight.
So when exactly will things ease up? One of the two plants mentioned is a joint venture between Air Products and Matheson that is expected to bring an additional 200 million standard cubic feet per year of helium to the market. Bob Lein, director, helium sourcing and supply at Matheson sent me this update on the anticipated startup of the Wyoming plant:
“Startup of the APMTG Helium plant in Big Piney, Wyoming, will commence as soon as a reliable supply of helium feedgas is made available to the plant by our feedgas supplier. We expect that to occur sometime in the next few months.”
Long term, popular belief (among distributors I’ve spoken with) is that the cost of helium will go up, as is the nature of basic supply and demand. As seen in my last blog, the cost and availability is certainly affecting the business of balloon retailers. Just think—some day, a helium balloon could be a rarity, a novelty reserved for special occasions.
Of course, if you’re going to pay extra for a balloon, some people think it might as well be edible too. Apparenlty one restaurant in Chicago does, where they’ve developed a helium-filled balloon for their dessert menu.
The green apple flavored delicacy created by Alinea Restaurant starts out as a syrup that is inflated with helium (See bottom left). Even the string is edible, as it’s made from dehydrated granny smith apple. Of course, whenever dealing with helium, it is always dangerous to inhale the gas. For that reason, Alinea attaches a needle to the bottom of the string, allowing diners to pop the balloon (to let the helium out) and eat up.
 The edible helium balloon starts as syrup. |
 Needle for popping balloon |
Photos via YouTube.
