The demand for sand grows year after year. In addition to its use for the construction of roads and homes, demand has been added in recent years by the fracking industry, which uses sand along with chemical components and water to fracture the dense rock formations that hide oil and gas. This strong demand is outpacing supply and making this raw material (which is still relatively cheap) more expensive, which is encouraging the creation of groups of poachers who ‘hunt’ for sand on deserted beaches and even in the sea.
As highlighted by The Economist weekly, there are more and more parts of the world in which beach robbers proliferate. In Morocco or the Caribbean, ‘poachers’ are stripping entire beaches to extract sand, which represents 85% of the volume of mineral extraction worldwide.
According to Spiegel, in several African countries entire beaches have disappeared due to this type of practice. However, the ‘gatherers’ of sand are not satisfied with that, now they submerge underwater, risking their lives, to extract underwater sand. According to this German newspaper, the beaches that have their survival 100% assured are those where tourism is a greater source of income than the sand itself.
sand uses
Modern cities, although it seems impossible, are built in and on sand. Most of the materials used in construction are composed of this mineral. Asia is the world’s largest consumer of sand, China alone accounts for half of the world’s demand in recent years. The thousands of kilometers of roads, built with asphalt (which carries sand and gravel), or the millions of houses built with concrete (also rich in sand), account for a large part of this demand.
To all these uses we must add in recent years the demand from the fracking or hydraulic fracturing industry, especially from the US. This process involves injecting a mixture of sand, chemicals and water into a well under high pressure to fracture the dense rock formations and thus allow oil and gas to flow to the surface. The sand left behind in the fracking process keeps the small channels open so that fossil fuels can escape and be extracted for use on the surface.
The consumption of sand is also important to expand the borders of countries that need more space. This is the case of Singapore, for example, which since the 1960s has expanded its land area by more than 20%. To achieve this increase in space, the most widely used technique is simply to throw sand into the sea.
The future of the arena
Many will think that in a world where deserts occupy 25% of the land mass, the scarcity of sand cannot be a problem. However, the abundance of this mineral in the desert is useless, at least for commercial use, because the desert sand is too fine, soft and weak to be used in any type of construction or glass making.
Although the situation is worrisome, The Economist points out that new techniques are already being implemented to replace the use of sand in construction processes. More and more countries and companies are recycling asphalt to create new roads, while other materials are also used in the construction of housing, such as wood.
Countries like the United Kingdom already boast of using a third of recycled materials in all their constructions. While Singapore will continue to eat land from the sea but through the use of dikes, which are less intensive in the use of sand. On the other hand, as the price of this mineral continues to rise, more and more substitutes will appear to reduce costs, the British weekly highlights.
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