Sand is the world's largest extracted material. It is used to make concrete and asphalt and a lower grade is used to produce glass and electronics. Additionally, sand is used in vast quantities to enlarge regions like singapore which is now 20% larger than it was in 1965 or in China which has built artificial islands. Even though it may seem plentifu there is not enough of it. Dessert sand is too fine for most commercial purposes. unfortuntately the shortage grows as people extract it faster than it is imported. This is even causing problems for islands in the Caribbean to absorb stormy weather.
However there is hope. Until the price of sand rises, people will continue to not use alternative means like recycling concrete and asphalt, or crushing rock. But as the price continues to rise alternatives are looking much more attractive. This is an extremely interesting case that describes what could happen when consumers consume too much of a natural resource.
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6 comments:
This is an interesting situation that a shortage of sand will force consumption of an alternative resource. I wonder if there will be a similar reaction for the shortages of other natural resources. The problem is that not all natural resources have easy alternatives like sand has.
It will be interesting to see if the global market will respond to the shortage and increase the price of sand. Alternative means of getting sand should be used if it can help curb the shortage and let sand rebound from current levels. This could be a win win as "real" sand at a more expensive rate could deter people from buying and let the levels rebound while "alternative"sand could be bought at a cheaper price and would still be a good product. Hopefully, this can be used as a lesson so that other natural resources that don't have alternatives can be extracted at a sustainable rate and not experience shortages, like Emily stated.
This article was an interesting read because many of us have an incorrect presumption that some natural resources will not run out and we take them for granted. Sane is one such natural resource. I think the processes of recycling and use of alternative natural resources are important for the sustainability of the economy.
This article is interesting. Usually there are some problems like for a river, there is soil erosion in the upstream while sediment deposition in the downstream area. Also, the delta area usually need more sand to resist the erosion from the sea. I think the sand problem can be seen as an inefficient allocation of resource. The coastal area are similar. Some area would accumulate sediments from the ocean regularly while ocean also bring sediments away from some areas. Is that possible for those countries or areas should reach some agreements to makes up the loss?
I've never thought about the world having a shortage of sand before, but I'm sure it can be a problem. It brings to mind the luxury islands created in Dubai and the fake islands created in the South China Sea as tensions escalate in the region. I wonder where in the world the high and low grade sand comes from. How much of their GDP is.. sand?
I can't imagine the shipping price on sand. Seems like an inefficient thing to ship from the Bahamas to East Asia.
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