"China is quietly extracting itself from a US helium ‘stranglehold’, experts say
Years of research and development are helping China become less reliant on overseas sources of the valuable noble gas"
In an article published in late 2022 in the journal Frontiers in Environmental Science, several researchers from
Beijing-based Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development stressed that once the US imposed a “stranglehold” blockade on helium exports to China, the country’s helium supply would be “greatly restricted”......
"The US has a global monopoly on helium reserves and the most advanced helium extraction technology, they added.
But the dynamics have shifted significantly. Last month, achievements in helium extraction and related equipment development were nominated for an annual scientific award by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)........"
"The Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry under the CAS, which backed the project, said it had successfully extracted helium from natural gas at the plant, located in China’s northwest.
There have been other breakthroughs. China has set its sights on extracting helium from
.
Two years after it began a joint project in 2021 led by the China Coal Research Institute, the team said it had successfully overcome the challenges and mastered the technology."
"The world’s first high-purity helium extraction plant for coal bed methane was commissioned in China in 2023, opening up a new avenue to boost the country’s helium production.
Scientists are also seeking alternatives to helium to produce the ultra-low temperatures needed in hi-tech industries.
For example, an international team, including physicists from a CAS institute, have discovered a cobalt-based quantum magnetic material that could theoretically achieve ultra-low temperatures without relying on helium. Their findings were published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature in January."
