Will water and sand be the next oil?

[Gary Fowler]

Most of the countries around the Sahara desert have to import sand to make concrete. Their sand is too round and fine for use in concrete. So a nation like Saudi Arabia, Qatar etc. which is practically all sand has none for use in buildings made of concrete and has to import it. Water is a valuable commodity in every country including the USA especially west of the Mississippi River. Irrigation is taking its toll on underground aquifers in every state that has major farm operations and it is depleting the aquifers much faster than nature can replenish them.
So I say, YES, water and sand (the right kind)might indeed be the commodity of the future. I know Florida has been importing white sand for their beaches for decades now.

 

[Diggin It]

Irrigation is taking its toll on underground aquifers in every state that has major farm operations and it is depleting the aquifers much faster than nature can replenish them.

I blame it on Almonds.

 

[CalG]

Desert sand for concrete.

I wonder if there is a technology that will allow inferior sand and aggregate to produce useful concrete structures. Perhaps that may not be cost effective today, but when supply and demand sets the price of goods and services, people get very creative.

I'm not concerned in the least. Pavement is not progress. It used to be population growth was going to ruin the world, but you don't here much about that any more. Then Al Gore got everyone's undies in a bunch and we are all 20 feet deep in melted icicles. 'Didn't happen, but he got his money out of us.

When the ice caps do melt, as they do from time to time. There will be just enough water for the people that are left.

Think happy thoughts, do stuff that helps.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

Desert sand for concrete.

I wonder if there is a technology that will allow inferior sand and aggregate to produce useful concrete structures. Perhaps that may not be cost effective today, but when supply and demand sets the price of goods and services, people get very creative.

I'm not concerned in the least. Pavement is not progress. It used to be population growth was going to ruin the world, but you don't here much about that any more. Then Al Gore got everyone's undies in a bunch and we are all 20 feet deep in melted icicles. 'Didn't happen, but he got his money out of us.

When the ice caps do melt, as they do from time to time. There will be just enough water for the people that are left.

Think happy thoughts, do stuff that helps.

Population growth is still a concern, we are at 7b and expected to eventually Plateau at around 11b.

It will be very challenging to feed that many people, we have already made a measurable impact on sea life, dirt isn’t as fertile as it used to be thanks to heavy farming, so farmers rely heavy on fertilizers and herbicides.

Livestock need heavy anabiotic’s so they don’t die from disease, especially hogs.

Our way of life isn’t sustainable. Trash is everywhere, poverty is growing, middle class is shrinking. The top 4% of the population of the USA has more wealth than the bottom 150 million people combined.

I looked it up one day, Ohio has the 2nd or 3rd worst air quality out of the entire United States, the Ohio river is #1 on the most polluted waterways in the USA, twice what the Mississippi is. the Scioto river is high on the list also. We are far worse than California is. So I looked it up and we are one of the heaviest consuming states of non renewable resources, we burn coal, pollute the air and water. We also have a high cancer rate, that seems to go hand in hand with pollution.

There was a time that I thought it was all crap, we are having no impact on the planet and it’s all just a bunch of hocus-pocus, until I did some research.

I don’t necessarily believe all the doom and gloom that comes with melting ice caps and such but I do believe that we are having an impact on our local environment and need to make changes sooner than later or we all will end up like China, polluted water ways and air that’s not good to breath. I do believe that people are destructive because of greed and if there was no regulation we would destroy the planet and the animals on it, just look at how many species we almost wiped out or have wiped out in the past.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

The top 4% of the population of the USA has more wealth than the bottom 150 million people combined.

It's worse than that. One man, Bill Gates, has more wealth than the poorest 150 million Americans combined. And America is the richest country in the world.

 

[Diggin It]

Those numbers are a bit deceiving in that they're largely on paper. He couldn't walk into a bank and walk out with that in cash.

However, he could give away his entire liquid assets, every penny and never notice it because there is so much coming in every day. His daily income is probably more than everyone on this board has made in the last ten years combined. And I'd bet we've all worked harder that he has. How many acres of field has he worked? Cord of word has he split? Feet of pipe has he laid? Or wire has he strung on utility poles?

Then you have the likes of Bezos and Jack Ma who people just keep throwing money at hand over foot for no particular reason.

One week of income from these guys, just one measily week could solve the problems of many small towns they helped to destroy.

 

[CalG]

Population growth is still a concern, we are at 7b and expected to eventually Plateau at around 11b.

It will be very challenging to feed that many people, we have already made a measurable impact on sea life, dirt isn’t as fertile as it used to be thanks to heavy farming, so farmers rely heavy on fertilizers and herbicides.

Livestock need heavy anabiotic’s so they don’t die from disease, especially hogs.

Our way of life isn’t sustainable. Trash is everywhere, poverty is growing, middle class is shrinking. The top 4% of the population of the USA has more wealth than the bottom 150 million people combined.

I looked it up one day, Ohio has the 2nd or 3rd worst air quality out of the entire United States, the Ohio river is #1 on the most polluted waterways in the USA, twice what the Mississippi is. the Scioto river is high on the list also. We are far worse than California is. So I looked it up and we are one of the heaviest consuming states of non renewable resources, we burn coal, pollute the air and water. We also have a high cancer rate, that seems to go hand in hand with pollution.

There was a time that I thought it was all crap, we are having no impact on the planet and it’s all just a bunch of hocus-pocus, until I did some research.

I don’t necessarily believe all the doom and gloom that comes with melting ice caps and such but I do believe that we are having an impact on our local environment and need to make changes sooner than later or we all will end up like China, polluted water ways and air that’s not good to breath. I do believe that people are destructive because of greed and if there was no regulation we would destroy the planet and the animals on it, just look at how many species we almost wiped out or have wiped out in the past.

You have elucidated the point.

It's not that population difficulties have disappeared, they have just fallen off the OMG sensationalism forefront.

And I'm supposed to jump at the rumour that there is a world wide shortage of sharp coarse sand.?

There are important life decisions, and sand ain't one of them.

 

[MossRoad]

It's worse than that. One man, Bill Gates, has more wealth than the poorest 150 million Americans combined. And America is the richest country in the world.

Before we bemoan Bill Gates, let's remember that anyone that makes more than about $33,000 per year makes more money than 99% of the rest of the people on the planet make per year. So, yes, you are the 1% that everyone is moaning about.

 

[goeduck]

Before we bemoan Bill Gates, let's remember that anyone that makes more than about $33,000 per year makes more money than 99% of the rest of the people on the planet make per year. So, yes, you are the 1% that everyone is moaning about.

Now I am feeling guilty. Most of us are a factional of 1%ers. On the other hand, the rest of the world does not live in the land of money where everything costs. We have some friends that came here legally from other countries and it took a long time for them to understand that nearly everything they want to do costs money.

 

[ultrarunner]

Yes it does...

I still was never ever to explain to my Euro friends why California charges a fee NOT TO OPERATE your vehicle and more so why we pay it.