Sources: Elhacham et al. (2020), Hackney et al. (2021), UNEP (2022)

      • Cheradenine@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        3 months ago

        That’s a bit confusing because the article also says this

        Sand from rivers are collected either from the river itself or its flood plain and accounts for the majority of the sand used in the construction industry.

        Sand dredging in the Mekong is a major problem.

      • Wxnzxn@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        3 months ago

        So am I correct in guessing it at least (if quartz sand) can be used for microchips and the likes? I hope the rough sands aren’t extrated just to be used in something, were other, less scarce sands could be used - but I could at least imagine stuff like economy of scale, existing infrastructure and special interest of the established industries could actually cause that.

        • infeeeee@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          7
          ·
          edit-2
          3 months ago

          But the amount needed for chips is several order of magnitude lower than what needed for concrete. If you see the square, usage diagram on the lower left, chips aren’t even visible, so small is needed.

          You can also use it for glass, which is on the diagram, there is this old video of a guy 3D printing things with only solar power in the Sahara:

          We don’t really have an economical alternative to concrete (yet) in a lot of usecases, e.g. building foundations, substructure everywhere on the earth is made from concrete. On superstructure there are other options as structural material, e.g. wood, steel, but those don’t like to be put in soil.

    • chumbalumber@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      3 months ago

      In case you don’t know, desert sand is very smooth, which means that it doesn’t bind at all in e.g. concrete. For cement, concrete etc., you need sharp sand, which has more ‘sharp’ bits for things to bind to.