Stealing sand -

Stealing sand
There is loads of sand on Earth right? Loads and loads and loads.
Well now we seem to be running out it and boy is it useful.
It is used in all manner of things from electronics to concrete.
The problem now is that we are running out of sand. Like seriously running out of the stuff.
Also as we mine the sand it is damaging the ecosystems of the world
60-70% of the sand we mine goes to production of concrete
Twice as much sand is used as all other building materials combined approx 30 billion tonnes per year.
That is enough sand to build a 27m high by 27 m wide wall around the equator.
94 million cubic metres of sand were taken from the sea bed to make the Palm Islands in Dubai
Due to this desire for sand the sand mafia or sand pirates has arisen
Most is known about these criminal organisations in India and Italy
But they are also at play in a host of other countries 70 and counting so far.
It is a very lucrative business because sand is in such high demand and heavy to transport so sand can be mined near construction sites illegally then sold cheap to the developers.
In Delhi 900,000 tonnes of sand were mined in a single year.
24 islands in Indonesia have disappeared after extensive mining by sand prates.
The only option is to mine less sand and this usually only occurs if the need to replace concrete that is damaged decreases options include using bacteria or fungi in the concrete itself so that if cracks appear they organisms produce chemicals with plug the holes and stop the cracks spreading.
Another option is 3d printing more complex structures that are self supporting so that less concrete is needed. Blocks of concrete uses less of the stuff than pouring into huge moulds for foundations for buildings or supporting walls.
The future is looking hopeful it is just not coming soon enough.
So next time you are building a sand castle at the beach see if you can think of a replacement material?
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