A sand shortage? The world is running out of a crucial commodity

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https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/05/sand-sho...odity.html

INTRO: An insatiable global appetite for sand, one of the world’s most important but least appreciated commodities, is unlikely to let up anytime soon. The problem, however, is that this resource is slipping away. Our entire society is built on sand. It is the world’s most consumed raw material after water and an essential ingredient to our everyday lives.

Sand is the primary substance used in the construction of roads, bridges, high-speed trains and even land regeneration projects. Sand, gravel and rock crushed together are melted down to make the glass used in every window, computer screen and smart phone. Even the production of silicon chips uses sand.

Yet, the world is facing a shortage — and climate scientists say it constitutes one of the greatest sustainability challenges of the 21st century. “Is it time for panicking? Well, that will certainly not help, but it is time to take a look and change our perception about sand,” Pascal Peduzzi, a climate scientist with the United Nations Environment Programme, said during a webinar hosted by think tank Chatham House... (MORE)

[Yazata]

Saudi Arabia's Empty Quarter has no shortage of sand

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The Pismo dunes near where I used to live has quite a bit of sand too.

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The barrier islands off most of the US east coast are mostly sand. In many places coastal dunes are eventually covered with vegetation and are kind of fixed in place so that the wind no longer shapes them. That's what's seen at Boca Chica beach in TX and many other shoreline places. If you dig down into those little coastline hills, you hit sand very quickly. Eventually it becomes sandstone I guess.

Something like 90% of the Earth's crust is composed of some form of silicates.

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[...] Something like 90% of the Earth's crust is composed of some form of silicates.

"Sand can be found on almost every country on Earth, blanketing deserts and lining coastlines around the world. But that is not to say that all sand is useful. Desert sand grains, eroded by the wind rather than water, is too smooth and rounded to bind together for construction purposes. The sand that is highly sought after is more angular and can lock together. It is typically sourced and extracted from seabeds, coastlines, quarries and rivers around the world.

[...] banning of river sand extraction would inevitably have a knock-on effect for the people and communities who rely on this practice to earn a living. ... UNEP has previously warned of thriving “sand mafias,” with groups comprising of builders, dealers and businessmen known to be operating in countries such as Cambodia, Vietnam, Kenya and Sierra Leone... "

We've used common fine-grain sand, and it still seems to work for non-architectural purposes; maybe something could be added to strengthen it for buildings, bridges, etc. But discovering the latter ingredient -- that's also abundant -- probably isn't going to happen until desperation sets in. ("Necessity is the mother of...")