hvem kender noget til helium-aktier?
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Gas ballooning, as an adventure sport, is likely to fade away in the United States, as a sharp spike in helium prices and supply constraints threaten the survival of the sport.
Gas balloons, are mainly used by ballooning enthusiasts to set distance records, with flights lasting as long as two or three days.
Unlike the more common hot-air balloons, which use propane as a fuel, gas balloons use helium or hydrogen for flights. Hydrogen ballooning is almost nonexistent in the United States, due to the highly flammable nature of the gas.
"Price is just about to drive gas ballooning extinct in this country," said Andy Cayton, an avid gas balloonist and retired army helicopter pilot who runs balloon rides in Georgia.
The price for a full tank of gasoline for cars might be exorbitant these days, but filling up a helium-filled gas balloon could cost over $12,000. And that's just the gas; buying a gas balloon itself can cost about $30,000.
Two to three years ago, the cost to fill a helium balloon of the same size was about $3,000.
The prohibitive cost is one of the main reasons that the adventure sport is small in the United States. There are about 5,000 qualified hot air balloonists in the country, but less than one-tenth of that total are qualified gas balloonists.
A part of the price escalation is driven by escalating energy, fuel and other operational costs as well as the growing demand for helium from other sectors. Continued...
