Helium is the second most abundant element in the universe, but on Earth it’s relatively rare, found trapped underground with natural gas and in the atmosphere, where it escapes into space.
On earth there are key locations where concentrated helium can be harvested. The US National Helium Reserve, which extracts gas from under the American Great Plains, is responsible for around 30% of the words helium supply. More recently countries including Russia, Qatar, Algeria and Australia have created helium plants.
