title: Geopolitics - Sand as Strategic Resource
Creators: name: Saalbach, Klaus
Publisher: name: Universität Osnabrück
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Geopolitics
subject: Sand
subject: Resource
subject: Environment
subject: 333.7 - Natürliche Ressourcen, Energie und Umwelt

description: Sand is a mineral granular material and its sources, i.e., sand, gravel, and crushed rock are the second most exploited natural resource in the world after water. The use has tripled in the last two decades to an estimated 40-50 billion tons per year, but will increase further due to population growth, economic growth, and urbanization. Sand is primarily used by the construction sector, but also for land reclamation and other industrial uses such as glass and computer chips. On the other hand, sand is a critical ecological factor, e.g., for water filtration, shoreline protection, aquifers, and as habitat for many species. Most desert sand cannot be used for concrete and land reclaiming, as only sand types of a certain granularity and shape can be used for construction; even Gulf States need to import sand for construction. Given the rapidly increasing use of sand that can be used for construction and industry, there is a risk of a global shortage of technically usable sand. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) argues for an appropriate regulation and monitoring of sand use, as there is a lack of coherent governance and only limited data for sand mining and trade. However, trade represents only a small part of the sand use as many countries have domestic production as well. In 2021, China produced 2.5 billion tons of cement and utilized 25 billion tons of sand for construction purposes, i.e., approximately half of the estimated annual global sand production. Crushed rock, sand and gravels are extracted and traded illegally in some regions by criminal organizations called ‘sand mafias’. There is also a grey economy with a fragmented industry which makes tracking and documentation even more difficult. It can be concluded that it is not only necessary to have a coherent international governance, but also sufficient monitoring activities of sand mining as this is often poorly or not documented. A geopolitical issue is the land reclamation. The city state of Singapore extended its landmass from 585 km² in 1959 to 724 km² in 2022, the sand demand led to loss of more than 20 Indonesian islands. Islands are strategic assets as they secure exclusive economic zones and sea borders. Sand can also be used to expand natural formations or to build artificial islands which are of major strategic importance for China to secure territorial claims. Sand trade is very attractive and even states that are aware of the potential damages continue to sell sand. Substitutes for sand in concrete could be waste products, crushed granite, barite powder, quarry dust or recycled construction and demolition waste. An alternative could be tall wood buildings based on mass timbers, i.e., large-format panelized wood products, such as the Ascent Tower with 19 stories of mass timber over a 6-level concrete podium. This paper analyzes sand as a new strategic resource, provides an overview on the current situation and problems and shows the need for global databases, improved monitoring, and international regulations.