The global demand for sand has been increasing exponentially at an unsustainable rate in recent years. Sand is currently the second most consumed natural resource globally after water and it is estimated that 15 billion tons of sand are consumed annually which equates to a value of around US$70 billion. The rapid increase in sand consumption over the past two centuries can be tied to the recent and ongoing urbanisation of Asia, in particular China and India and the subsequent growth of the construction industry of which sand is a key resource. The production of concrete is the major driver of the demand for sand within the construction industry. The importance and prevalence of concrete cannot be overstated, it is “the single most widely used material in the world.” Concrete is roughly comprised, by volume, of 5% air, 10% cement, 15% water and 70% Aggregates. The aggregates can be split into two categories, fine and coarse. Typically, coarse aggregates consist mainly of gravel and the fine aggregates consist mainly of sand. Given that sand together with gravel makes up about 70% of concrete, which is an essential material in construction, it is not a surprise that the demand for sand is so great and only increasing with the increase in construction, for example, it takes on average 30,000 tonnes of aggregates to build every 1km of highway. The demand for sand in China has risen 437.5% over the last 20 years and therefore the size and number of firms in China extracting sand has recently increased dramatically. The Yangtze river and its adjoining lakes is now a hotspot for sand mines, Poyang lake is China’s largest freshwater lake and is situated along the Yangtze. It has suffered severe adverse impacts as a direct result of sand mining.
The research question is: “What is the main driver of sand exploitation and to what extent are the impacts localized?” This research question needed an inter-disciplinary approach in order to fully answer it. An economic perspective was needed to examine the supply and demand for sand and the market failure due to the its overconsumption but a geographical perspective was needed to look at the environmental implications as well as the urbanisation of Asia which is one of the main drivers of the over-exploitation. However, fundamentally, geography and economics are strongly interconnected and a mix of both in every aspect of the question is crucial to fully analyse this issue. It could be argued that a political perspective is also required, however, together economics and geography cover the necessary basic political aspects that must be considered. The global issue is worthy of study because firstly, it is underreported and often overlooked by the media particularly in Britain due to the minimal effect it has had on the UK. However, this issue is already starting to have profound political, social, environmental and economic effects across the globe and therefore it must be addressed. Furthermore, within the global issue this particular research question was chosen because by pinpointing the main driver of the over-exploitation of sand and its impacts we can assess the gravity of the issue, and thus consider appropriate solutions to the problem as well as looking at the implications that it will have on species including humans and ecosystems. This research question considers both the short-term local impacts that must be addressed as well as the long-term issues that have global implications.
Although it does not fit within the parameters of the research question, when discussing the over-exploitation of sand, it is important to consider the over-exploitation of other natural resources, the most obvious example of which are fossil fuels. Similar to the extraction of sand, the extraction of fossil fuels also has adverse environmental implications. This explicit similarity can be used and applied implicitly in this essay. This investigation will outline why there is a global shortage of sand using economics. It will then explore using a geographer’s perspective the implications of this in the short term and the long term and on a local scale and a global scale. Following this, Poyang lake in China will be introduced as a local case study with the purpose of supporting and further exploring the implications of the sand shortage caused by its over-exploitation focusing on short-term local impacts. All the implications will then be assessed using economic theory in terms of a market failure due to negative externalities. Throughout the essay other items of literature will be considered discussed, and evaluated.
Sand can be described as a common-pool resource, authorities find it extremely difficult to regulate these and therefore, as with many common-pool resources, it is selfishly extracted without considering the long-term consequences of its extraction. The global issue is the unsustainable exploitation of sand which in turn has created a plethora of problems. Upon first glance, it seems almost counter-intuitive that there can be a shortage of sand given that deserts make up 20-30% of the land. However, desert sand is too smooth for use in concrete and due to this is redundant for the construction industry that is the major sand consumer. This is because in the desert the sand is extremely exposed and the wind erosion causes the sand to become too smooth and subsequently loses its capability to stick together during concrete production. Therefore, most of the world’s sand is not suitable for construction and thus the supply is more limited than one would originally expect. Suitable sand is hard to come by, beaches and riverbeds are the most common and accessible locations for sand that is suitable for use in construction. These areas are therefore being strained due to the increasing demand. The demand for sand has been increasing substantially year on year for the last decade.
Causes of the increased exploitation of sand
It can be contended that the recent increase in the demand for sand is predominantly caused by the recent industrialisation and urbanisation of developing countries. Currently 54% of the world’s population are living in
urban areas and in 2050 it is estimated that 66% of the population will be. This global urbanisation is causing a global increase in demand for concrete in construction due to the strain on urban housing and infrastructure. Along with urbanisation, raw population growth is also causing an increased pressure on the demand for sand. The world’s population is currently increasing exponentially and is currently at 7.3 billion people however it is estimated that by 2050 the global population will be 9.7 billion and therefore a larger quantity of sand is needed to sustain a larger population. The increased demand for sand is depicted in the diagram below (Figure 1) as the market demand for sand shifts to the right from D1 to D2. This shift causes the quantity of sand demanded and supplied to increase from Q1 to Q2 and the price to increase from P1 to P2. In fact, the price of sand has multiplied by 6 over the last 25 years. This shift in demand which causes the increase in quantity of sand to be supplied explains using economic theory why sand extraction is increasing.
Figure 1
Krausmann et al. stated, in an investigation on the growth in global materials use, that it is difficult to fully understand the increase in global demand for sand because in many countries data on the consumption of sand is not available or only available from recent years. One approach to circumvent this issue would be to use the more abundant data on the demand for cement for concrete given that concrete is the largest use of sand globally. The United States Geological Survey indicates that there are 150 countries that report the production and consumption of cement and therefore, although indirect, is a more representative measure of the demand for sand.
Figure 2
Figure 2 illustrates the global demand for cement along with China’s demand for cement, it portrays the influence of China’s recent and rapid development. Cement makes up 10% of concrete and aggregates (sand and gravel) makes up 70%, therefore for every tonne of concrete produced, seven tonnes of aggregates are needed. Therefore, in 1994 about 9.8 billion metric tonnes of aggregates were used in the production of cement. Between 1994 and 2012 there has been a rapid increase in the world’s production of cement and thus demand for sand which has been driven by China. In 2012, 3.65 billion metric tonnes of cement were produced globally and therefore 25.55 billion metric tonnes of aggregates were used in the production of concrete.
However, although the construction industry dominates a large proportion of the demand for sand, sand is also used in other areas such as land reclamation and shoreline developments for which data is unavailable. The united nations environmental programme estimates that the total global consumption of aggregates surpasses 40 billion metric tonnes annually. Over half of this figure is made up by the construction industry and although countries such as Singapore import sand for land reclamation, the main driver of the voracious demand for sand is the urbanisation and population growth particularly in China.
Impacts of sand mining
Economic
Sand mining is an activity that takes place in both core and periphery countries and brings both positive and negative impacts. The positives of sand mining are predominantly economic and on a local scale such as economic growth and reduced unemployment. The negative implications of sand mining are predominantly environmentally related and are on a local and global scale.
Sand mining has positive economic effects, Figure 3 shows the economic value of sand in US$ for the 10 largest exporters of sand.
Figure 3
Sand is a significant part of the economies of the countries in Figure 3. These countries are all net exporters of sand and therefore the sand exports bring in money and are an injection into their respective economy. For example, in 2014 the USA exported about US$450 million worth of sand to other countries. Exports minus Imports is a component of aggregate demand (AD) and therefore the exporting of sand increases exports which increases AD. This increase in AD caused by increasing sand exports is depicted on Figure 4. AD increases due to the improvement in the trade balance (exports – imports) and expands and shifts to the right from AD to AD2. This causes the real GDP of the economy to increase from Y1 to Y2 thus economic growth has occurred due to sand mining and is only increasing as sand mining increases in these countries. Therefore, potentially increasing the standards of living in these countries.
Figure 4
Furthermore, sand mining provides jobs on a local scale, which therefore helps to lower unemployment and thus increasing the output of the economy and costing the government less on paying for people without jobs. Although these are good short-term local benefits, in the long-term sand is a scarce resource and its supply is diminishing. This will mean that economies that have large quantities of sand exports will be affected in the long run as the supply of sand decreases and the aforementioned positive impacts on the economy will be reversed as their sand mining industries dwindle.
Although it can have some positive impactions, many of the implications are negative. On an economic level, the sand mining can reduce tourism. Many sand mines are situated on rivers or sea beds, the beaches are supplied by the sediment such as sand that is transported by these waterways. Sand mining reduces the quantity of sand in an area and therefore less sand is transported and ultimately supplied to the beaches. Subsequently the beaches shrink and the tourist attraction is lost. The loss of tourism can have an effect on the real GDP of a country especially countries with a large tertiary sector. Beaches themselves can also be used as a source of sand and are ironically often used to build infrastructure for tourism whilst destroying the tourist attraction. Extraction of sand from beaches is usually done illegally.
Social
Social implications of the frenzied demand for this natural resource come in many forms. Firstly, the voracious demand for sand has led to the formation of sand mafias across the world. These gangs are extremely dangerous and have formed with the aim of illegally ransacking sand from beaches and rivers in the middle of the night. The Indian sand mafia is probably the most notorious. It is estimated that illegal sand mining in India is worth about $2.3billion. As well as this money not being reported and therefore not taxed by the government, the sand mafias bring other negative impacts such as the abuse of human rights. An example of a human rights abuse from the Indian sand mafia was in 2004 they attacked and abused Sumaira Abdulali, an onlooker who had noticed her local beach shrinking and decided to speak out about it. This was not the first or last example of violence from this mafia and the it is also allegedly responsible for deaths. Sand mines’ effect on the ecosystems and particularly marine life affect the livelihoods of fishermen who rely on a constant and sustainable ecosystem in order for them to continue their jobs. However, the ecosystem disruption explained later on in the essay often leads to the loss of livelihoods for local fishermen. So even though a sand mine can often create jobs in area it can also cause the loss of others.
Political
Politics can also be affected by this global issue. Singapore have been stockpiling sand however is nearing the end of its stores. Singapore was reliant on Indonesia for sand in order to grow and expand however in 2004 Indonesia imposed a ban which made it illegal to export sand to Singapore. The reasons behind this were most likely politically driven as the relationship between these countries had broken down. The ban has meant that for Singapore importing sand is now three times more expensive than it was before the Indonesian ban. This could take a toll on its economic development in the future. The trading of sand in general is dubious, many people are convinced that Indonesia are still exporting to sand to Singapore. Furthermore, “data showed that Singapore reported 73.6 million tonnes in sand imports from Cambodia since 2007. Yet the Cambodian government reported that only 2.7 million tonnes left for Singapore.” This is indicative of the corruption which is embedded at the core of this sand production and consumption.
Environmental
The environment also suffers as a result of the sand mining. Marine sand mines are only increasing and these are having large consequences on the marine life in the surrounding area. The sand is mined from the benthic zone and this mining destroys habitats for aquatic organisms and alters the biodiversity of an area, Desperez et al. claim that sand mining always causes a net loss in faunal biomass in the surrounding ecosystem. The study undertaken by Boyd et al. lends credence to this point and adds that it in the long-term the ecosystem can only be restored to its original state if the original sediment composition is restored. Both studies fundamentally agree with each other and the overall consensus.
A study undertaken by Ashfran et al. into the effects of sand mining discussed that when aggregates are mined but are too fine they are dumped into waterways in large batches. These large plumes alter the turbidity of the water and thus can transform riparian and aquatic habitat to such an extent that they no longer are suitable for some organisms that inhabit them.
As well as being out at sea, many sand mines are situated on rivers. Mining on the bed of a river causes the river to undergo channel incision upstream and downstream of the mine. This can cause lateral instability of the river banks and can cause the draining of the alluvial aquifer to a lower level thus reducing the storage capacity of the aquifer. This decreased level of the water table has a great impact on the effect of droughts in the surrounding area, increasing their severity and occurrence. This research was published in 1997 and therefore is arguably not up to date however it is supported by more recent studies for example the study of Poyang lake by Leeuw et al. in 2009 states that this adverse environmental impact has occurred on Poyang lake.
The mining of sand has both a direct and indirect effect on the climate by exacerbating global warming and climate change through the emission of carbon dioxide. Due to containerisation and globalisation sand can be easily transported over long distances to the location where it is actually used. This transport often involves the combustion of fossil fuels and the emission of CO2 thus enhancing the greenhouse effect. It also has an indirect effect on the climate, because as previously discussed the mining of sand is often with the aim of concrete production, cement is also needed for concrete production. Around 0.9 tonnes of carbon are produced for every tonne of cement produced. This also enhances the greenhouse effect thus leading to anthropogenic climate change. This is a long-term global effect and therefore lends credence to the argument that the impacts of the over-exploitation are not just localised.
Poyang Lake
Poyang lake is the largest freshwater lake in China and is three times the size of London. In 1983, it became a protected reserve due to its ecological importance and now contains a Ramsar wetland. It is of great biological importance, for example, it is very important to many migratory birds. It plays host to “95% of the world population of the endangered Siberian crane.” This lake is also the source of livelihoods for many fishing villages around the lake. Every year approximately 236m^3 of sand is extracted from this lake. That makes it the largest sand mine in the world, David Shankman, a geographer from Alabama university who has undertaken studies on this subject, remarks that “I couldn’t believe it when we did the calculations,” when referring to the quantity of sand extracted from the lake. According to a study undertaken by Jan de Leeuw among others, the extraction in this lake “corresponds to 9% of the total Chinese demand for sand.” However, this highly productive sand mine is proving to cause adverse environmental effects in this natural reserve on its unique biodiversity. For example, the dredging of the sand is reducing the light intensity in the lake which has reduced the population of Vallisneria spiralis. These are a major food source for the endangered Siberian crane of which the majority of its entire population spends its winter predominantly on this lake. This may lead to a reduction in population of this endangered species and may even cause its extinction in the long-run. A leading ecologist, James butcher, stated that “sand mining has also compromised the ecological integrity of the lake by contributing to less predictable season water fluctuations and to a series of recent low water events.” In fact in 2008 the water levels reach an all-time recorded low.
1995 2013
Figure 5
The sand mined from Poyang lake almost exclusively ends up in the Chinese construction industry. Due to China’s recent and ongoing urbanisation, according to the U.N environmental agency, the demand for sand has increased by 438% and in turn the supply for sand has been incentivised to increase. The Satellite images (Figure 5) of the northern area of Poyang lake provide another perspective on the effect that this frenzied demand is having. It is apparent that since 1995 the sand dredging has caused the Channel to significantly widen and has distorted the channel shape as shown in the 2013 image. These distortions not only indicate the destruction of riparian organism’s habitats but it has also left the remaining sandbars and shores with a serrated appearance and the integrity of the lake is damaged.
Market Failure
Many of these negatives impacts outlined above are a cost to a third party and can therefore be described as negative externalities of production of sand. Figure 6 Depicts the market failure caused by the overproduction of sand.
Figure 6
Due to the negative externalities of sand mining the marginal social costs (MSC) curve does not emulate the marginal private costs curve (MPC) as shown on Figure 6. The market always operates at the private equilibrium as people aim to maximize their private utility. At the private equilibrium, the quaintly of sand demanded is Q and the price of sand is P. At the social equilibrium where the market is at allocative efficiency the quantity of sand produced is Qopt. Q is larger than Qopt and therefore there is an overproduction of sand. This causes a welfare loss as illustrated on the diagram and a market failure has occurred. Although this explains it using economic theory, the economic theory alone does not fully explore the negative externalities and therefore economics and geography are needed in combination in order to fully understand the effects of the over-exploitation.
Reducing the impacts of sand mining
The negative implications are such that it is of paramount importance that policies are put in place to reduce the production of sand. There is not currently an international convention that regulates the use exploitation of sand, however there are many regional conventions for example the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area. However, these regional conventions lack coherence and are often rife with corruption.
An ideal way of reducing these negative externalities would be using a tax, a form of Government intervention. A tax will increase the unit cost of production for sand and therefore on Figure 5 supply will decrease shifting the supply curve (MPC) to the left towards the MSC curve. Thus, reducing or eliminating the area of welfare loss and the quantity of sand produced will decrease towards the optimal level. Economic theory suggests that a well-used tax can internalise the negative externalities which in this case are the negative implications previously outlined and therefore eradicate the overproduction of sand and with it reduce its negative impacts. However, although it is theoretically a good solution, a country such as china is a command economy with abundance of corruption therefore the likelihood of them implementing the tax and then after that policing it appropriately is minimal.
Although a tax is a good short term solution to this issue it is not a feasible long term solution. Currently a lot of research is focused around possible artificial alternatives for sand, this solution wold be a suitable sustainable long-term solution that transcends political policy. A paper written by Rajendra P. Mogre
et al. explores the feasibility of an artificial replacement for sand. It proposes a viable alternative which is “produced from quires tone by crusher prepared specially so as to get cubical, smooth textured, well graded particles of fine aggregate is called artificial sand.” However, it does state that currently the expense of this artificial sand is too high that it cannot currently compete with the extraction of sand. Therefore, it could work in conjunction with a large tax on the extraction of sand.
Conclusion
The research question is: “What is the main driver of sand exploitation and to what extent are the impacts localized?” In conclusion, despite the other demands for sand discussed, it can be argued that the main driver for the insatiable thirst for sand is the rapid population growth and urbanisation occurring in Asia. It can be contended that to a great extent the impacts of the over-exploitation are localised, short-term and centred around environmental degradation as highlighted in Poyang lake. However, the long term global implications relating to the indirect causation of anthropogenic climate change and the long term impact on the ecosystems are yet to be fully understood and researched given how topical the issue is.
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