Is the world running out of sand? The answer is yes… wait, what!?

Who would have ever thought that such a question would feature in the minds and lips of respected professionals in several industries around the world? Well, as unusual as it may sound, the world is experiencing an unprecedented sand shortage that will have detrimental effects on the environment as well as in several critical industries around the world and just might change the world forever (yes, worse so than Covid-19).

You must be asking a few questions right now like “what a mess, are we running out of sand” or “how exactly will a sand shortage impact critical industries around the world” – possibly you even thinking of the future where we may just have to resort to mining sand from the moon or Mars (which is actually decades closer than you think, but we’ll leave that to Space X and NASA to solve). Back on earth though, we need to investigate the seriousness of this sand shortage.

So, what do we use sand for?

Construction and mining

Sand is used for a multitude of things in the construction and mining businesses, from making concrete and mortar, to creating stable foundations for buildings of different shapes and sizes. Sand is also used to create bricks in which it is a key ingredient in a mixture of clay and other materials.

In mining, sand is used in a few applications such as hydraulic fracturing water filtration. It’s not always obvious just how important sand is in several industries around the world, but the fact remains that a sand shortage would devastate these industries in some way or another.

Industrial and commercial

When it comes to industrial and commercial applications, sand is the holy grail for many things. If you don’t live under a rock, you should know that sand is used to manufacture glass through a rapid cooling process of molten materials, usually silicates (in other words, sand). Imagine living in a world where glass is as rare a commodity as gold – hectic right!?

Sand is also used for many other industrial and commercial applications, including but not limited to the manufacturing of plastics, toothpaste, food, wine and computer chips. Sand is also crucial in agriculture for reasons that should be obvious to us all.

Why is there a sand shortage in the world?

Even though sand can be found almost everywhere you look, we’re still running out of the stuff. Why? Well, for some of the same reasons that we’re running out of fossil fuels and precious metals – mankind uses way more than mother earth can produce. This may sound strange at first since sand is so abundant, but the act of the matter is that we use a lot more sand than anyone would expect.

According to recent stats, mankind uses up to 50 billion tons of sand every year, which equates to twice the amount of sand produced by every river in the world. In fact, sand is one of the most used natural resources in the world, ranking high up there with air, water, and gas.

There are so many other negative effects that this sand shortage we’re experiencing (along with the subsequent increase in sand mining) will have on the world for both humans and the environment, far too much to talk about in this blog. If you’re keen to learn more, check out this informative resource we used for most of our information!

What are the possible solutions for this sand shortage?

The debate about preserving the environment before it’s too late has been raging on for a long time now, mainly featuring talks on how mankind can slow down (or hopefully fix) the almost irreversible damage we’ve done to the earth. When it comes to sand, the debate is no different. At the end of the day, it all boils down to us using less of the natural resources we’ve been gifted with on earth.

Here at Cluster Holdings, we encourage our clients and customers to not waste this precious resource mankind tend to take for granted. Contact us today for a free quote!