Experts warn that the world is facing a growing shortage of sand.
After water, sand is the world’s most consumed raw material. Annual; It is used to make glass, concrete, asphalt and even silicon microchips.
Deserts make up a third of the planet, desert sand is too smooth and round to be used in construction.
The construction industry alone uses up to 50 billion tons of sand per year and COVID-19 Demand will increase as the world is expected to need two billion more glass bottles over the next two years as vaccines are distributed.
An impending famine could slow down the production of everything from smartphones to office buildings.
It could delay the production of billions of glass bottles needed to deliver the coronavirus vaccine to populations around the world.
With increased building development and increased demand for smartphones and other personal technologies using displays, there özgü been a shortage of sand, gravel, and crushed rock for much of the decade.
‘We just think sand is everywhere,’ said Pascal Peduzzi, a climate scientist from the UN Environment Program (UNEP)..
“We never thought our sand was going to run out, but in some places this famine is starting,” added Peduzzi.
“It is very important to anticipate what will happen in the next ten years; Because if we do not look forward, we will have big problems with sand supply and land planning. ”
Peduzzi said panicking won’t help, but it’s time to change our perception of sand.
According to UNEP, around 40 to 50 billion metric tons of sand are used each year in the construction sector alone.
That’s a 300 percent increase from just 20 years ago, and it will take two years for every river on the planet to take its place.
GRID‘in To the Global Sand Observatory Initiative “Urbanization, population growth and infrastructure development will continue to drive the upward trend in demand,” he said.
Since no one wants a sand mine in their backyard, extraction efforts often focus on more fragile environments such as rivers, coastlines and seabeds in places like India and China.
Researchers began looking for alternatives to sand, including volcanic ash, a byproduct of burning coal, agricultural waste, and fly ash.
There are also works done with silica sand made from small granules of quartz.
But the materials scientist Susan Bernal said ‘the construction industry is very conservative. To use these new green alternative cements or alternative aggregates, we need to comply with multiple standards. “For example, we have to make sure that we make a house safe enough for people,” he said.
There was a global glass shortage in 2015 as sand is the key component for glass.
When contractors erected skyscrapers, they had to wait months with their bare windows.
Given the billions of vials and syringes required to get vaccines into arms around the world, the lack of glass during the pandemic is of particular concern.
The vial is a small and usually decorative bottle. It özgü a opening gasket or plug and is designed to hold valuable liquids that can deteriorate when exposed to air.
The medical glass industry was just beginning to catch up with demand in 2020, but the pandemic and subsequent vaccine implementation pulled things back significantly.
Stevanato Group, the Italian vial manufacturer, He said that global demand for vials will increase by as much as 2 billion in the next two years.
Vaccine expert James Robinson said that even if the vaccine is loaded into 10-dose vials, hundreds of millions of vials are still needed for the pandemic.
Only three companies – Corning, Schott, and Nipro Pharma Corporation – produce most of the pharmaceutical glass tubes required for vials and syringes.
New production facilities are expensive and there is great competition for the type of angular grit required to make glass.
Leaders of the three pharmaceutical glass companies say they are working together to meet demand amid a global health crisis.
“The industry is putting aside the competitive spirit. The fact that everyone is together in this struggle makes it feel more important than ever. “
Compiled by: Feyza ÇETİNKOL
/ The World Is Running Out of Sand and It Can Affect Our Lives From Smartphone to Vaccine /
