The Deadly Global War for Sand

Source: www.wired.com...

Synopsis: Have we reached Peak Sand? That seems to be the conclusion of this Wired Magazine article. I typically put up a snippet of an article I link in the OP but this article was written in more of a story format not like a news article. It spells out the fact that our entire civilization is build on sand. Every yard of cement to the microchips that make the internet possible to the fibers that link us all together we rely on quartz sand and as abundant as it seems it is still a finite resource.

The article linked into the OP is a long one to read but it is both informative and thought provoking. I had never given any thought to a future where sand was in short supply.

a reply to: machineintelligence

Cool article with some awesome photos in it too. I didn't even know this was an issue but it does make sense being that concrete jungles are ever-expanding and require so much of it.

Potential business ideas.. hmmm

a reply to: machineintelligence


If sand actually becomes really worth something they will simply build railroads into the deserts. Plenty of sand there to last for centuries.

a reply to: machineintelligence

I didn't realise sand was used for concrete, I thought they just ground up rocks.

originally posted by: infolurker
a reply to: machineintelligence


If sand actually becomes really worth something they will simply build railroads into the deserts. Plenty of sand there to last for centuries.

From the article you forgot to read

(Desert sand generally doesn’t work for construction; shaped by wind rather than water, desert grains are too round to bind together well.) And the amount of sand being mined is increasing exponentially.

a reply to: Autorico

It is ground up rocks. Sandstone to be precise but if labor or energy is used in its extraction it raises the cost over just scooping up river or beach sand which are the preferred form of sand for concrete. There are only so many beaches and riverbeds to gather sand from. Then we are reducing it from sandstone which is far more costly.

From the article, this made me chuckle:

Exporters in Australia are literally selling sand to Arabs.

a reply to: machineintelligence

Ohmyohmyohmy. Who'da thunk it? Thanks so very much for a truly important heads-up.

F&S&

originally posted by: infolurker
a reply to: machineintelligence




If sand actually becomes really worth something they will simply build railroads into the deserts. Plenty of sand there to last for centuries.

It is worth something. Those beaches on the coast of Scotland are some of the most beautiful places in the country:

news.bbc.co.uk...

www.youtube.com...