Helium plays a crucial role in basic research at ETH Zurich. In fields such as physics, chemistry, biology, semiconductor research, and medical imaging, liquid helium is indispensable as a coolant. Many experiments and measurement instruments in these disciplines\u00a0operate\u00a0reliably only at temperatures close to absolute zero.<\/p>\n
In quantum science, for example, liquid helium is used to cool quantum computers and\u00a0superconducting\u00a0circuits,\u00a0stabilising\u00a0their extremely sensitive quantum states. In biology and medical technology, helium is essential for the superconducting magnets used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems, which generate powerful, resistance\u2011free magnetic fields and enable high\u2011resolution images of organs and tissues.\u00a0In Biology,\u00a0Helium\u2011cooled nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometers likewise make it possible to\u00a0determine\u00a0the structure of proteins with high precision (see box below).\u00a0<\/p>\n
ETH\u00a0feels the\u00a0impact of the\u00a0global Helium\u00a0shortage <\/p>\n
The escalation of the war in the Middle East has been disrupting global helium supply chains since late February, alongside those for crude oil and natural gas. One key reason is that the Strait of Hormuz has effectively been closed to international shipping.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Further strain has arisen from significant production losses in the Persian Gulf. Since\u00a0mid\u2011March, gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in Iran and Qatar have been attacked, affecting both natural gas production and the extraction of helium. Helium is not produced independently; it is separated as\u00a0a by\u2011product\u00a0of natural gas extraction and the\u00a0subsequent\u00a0LNG processing chain.<\/p>\n
The shutdown of\u00a0the Ras\u00a0Laffan facilities in Qatar is particularly significant, as the Gulf state\u00a0was set to account for\u00a0around\u00a0a third\u00a0of global helium production\u00a0by 2025.\u00a0War-related\u00a0damage\u00a0to Qatar\u2019s\u00a0helium processing infrastructure\u00a0will therefore\u00a0inevitably\u00a0lead\u00a0to\u00a0a decline in global\u00a0production\u00a0and\u00a0increased price pressure.<\/p>\n
Shifts in the helium market affect ETH\u00a0 <\/p>\n
\u201cHelium supplies are tight, but we have taken precautions. Our reserves are currently well stocked, allowing us to bridge any potential shortages in the coming months,\u201d says Janis\u00a0L\u00fctolf.\u00a0He is Head of Technical Operations\u00a0in the Department of Physics, which includes the gas liquefaction team responsible for\u00a0procuring\u00a0and liquefying the helium required at ETH Zurich.\u00a0<\/p>\n
ETH Zurich is not directly affected by the production outages and transport disruptions in the Persian Gulf, as it sources a significant share of its helium from Algeria. Qatari helium has so far been supplied\u00a0mainly to\u00a0Asian markets. To partially offset shortfalls from Qatar, however, increasing volumes of Algerian helium are now likely to be diverted to Asia. This shift\u00a0and the resulting tightening of the global helium market\u00a0are also being felt at ETH Zurich.<\/p>\n
Compounding the\u00a0issue\u00a0is the scarcity of helium itself. The gas is not produced independently but is separated as\u00a0a by\u2011product\u00a0of natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) production.\u00a0Output is concentrated in a small number of countries and locations worldwide, leaving the global supply chain vulnerable when individual large\u2011scale facilities fall out of service. At the same time, demand from the medical sector, the semiconductor\u00a0industry\u00a0and research\u00a0is\u00a0rising worldwide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Helium plays a crucial role in basic research at ETH Zurich. In fields such as physics, chemistry, biology,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":49562,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[6],"tags":[3411,20425,3404,3740,17381,15399,272,5779,3403,1023,51],"class_list":["post-49561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-zurich","tag-administration-and-infrastructure","tag-biology","tag-chemistry","tag-eth-zurich","tag-honggerberg","tag-internal-news","tag-international","tag-medicine","tag-physics","tag-sustainability","tag-zurich"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116411042749650374","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}