Abstract:
The U.S. Department of Energy added helium to its list of critical materials, citing the element's importance to U.S. domestic manufacturing and semiconductor production and its increasing vulnerability to supply chain disruptions. The U.S. Department of Energy said in a statement Friday that there are no viable alternatives to the noble gas in many critical applications. Other elements already on the list include cobalt, magnesium and lithium.
While the United States has "significant" reserves of helium-rich natural gas, global demand is growing faster than production, putting U.S. manufacturers at supply risk, the U.S. Department of Energy said. The statement said that limited refining capacity and long approval cycles restrict the expansion of domestic supply in the United States.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the United States is the world's largest producer of helium, accounting for about 43% of global production last year. Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are also major suppliers.
Primarily extracted from helium-rich natural gas, helium is used in everything from car airbags to MRI scanners, but its most important use is in semiconductor manufacturing, where it is used to cool and protect the silicon wafers needed to make the chips that are underpinning the AI boom.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s critical materials list was established under the Energy Act of 2020 and covers non-fuel minerals, elements and other materials that are considered critical to energy technologies and have a high risk of supply chain disruption.
Comments