Quote:
Originally Posted by Rockstar
desert sand is just another resource to exploit and exploit it we will. Just give it time. Some high school drop out will come along and figure out a way to use that desert sand for building and make his million.
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Desert sand is - it is somethign about the geometry of the grains, they are too tiny or too round, too smooth think. It is not suitable to be used for concrete of that kind that is needed to build heavy structures. Else there would not be this big problem for thje industry. Nobody invests huge amounts of money into harvesting sand from the seabed if all he would need to do is driving into the sahara and digging sand on lorries.
Our urban civilization is literally build on sand. And most sands nature offers, are not suitable for that task. In fact, sand that can be used for the kind of construction we do in the industrialised world, is a scarce and limited ressource.
We know of cases when over night whole sandbeaches were stolen by dozens and dozens of lorries. Also, legal harvesting globally reduces the amount of natural sandy seashores and bathing beaches.
I could link you to German texts and documentaries claiming that sand is the most important unliving ressource for human economy second only to - sweet water. And construction prices are globally climbing already, due to shortages in sand supply. The concrete industry since many years already frequerntly suffers from delays in sand supplies, since it now mist be brought up from the seabed - and the shallow waters suitable already have almost completely milked by now, with partially desastrous consequences to natural habitats, coral reefs, and maritime life.
Laissez faire is definitely not the way to tackle this problem.
We are too many.
Nations in the gulf region and Saudi Arabia belong to the most active sand importers worldwide, btw. This should tell something to all sceptics who think desert sand can be used. This assumption simply is wrong. And sand mafias belong to the biggest crime cartels that operate in the world today. The demand for sand that can be used in the construction industry is twice as high than the amount of sand that rivers and the oceans flush onto land every year. The availability from this sand gets hindered even further due to dams and artifical redirecting and managing of rivers and channels.