Climateer Investing: More On China And Their Fetishization of Sand

Wednesday, March 17, 2021

More On China And Their Fetishization of Sand

Fetish may not be the exact word I am looking for. Because China is the largest producer of concrete—and the concomitant production of CO2*—the Chinese have a very deep understanding of the importance of and uses for, sand.

From China Dialogue via The Third Pole:

Sand mining is stealing the minerals from Chinese rivers

Massive floods are only one of the results that sandmining on an unprecedented scale has unleashed upon China

The world’s largest extractive industry gets little attention. Each year up to 50 billion tonnes of sand and gravel – known collectively as aggregate – are mined from rivers, lakes, oceans and hillsides. As it is the main ingredient in concrete and tarmac, our cities and roads are literally built on sand.
Yet the aggregate industry and its environmental impacts remain almost as murky as the major rivers that supply much it. A literature review published last year highlights the urgent need for research into the impacts of sand mining on biodiversity and ecosystem services. Research is also needed into the industry’s opaque supply chains, to connect the dots that link unsustainable sand mining and hydropower dams to changes in the physical integrity of rivers, rising water and climate risks, including flooding.
From 2011 to 2013, China used more concrete than the United States
in all 100 years of the 20th century.
The floods that hit the Yangtze and Huai river basins last year killed nearly 100 people and caused billions of dollars of damage. Floods are increasingly submerging parts of China’s major coastal areas too, places such as Guangdong, Dongguan, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Nantong and Tianjin. Although China’s massive investment in flood defences has reduced flood risks over recent decades, the altered rainfall patterns brought on by climate change mean much more needs to be done to build resilience – including investing in nature-based solutions to protect, restore and better manage ecosystems.
Extracting too much aggregate from China’s rivers and lakes could be increasing the likelihood of floods. Digging up unsustainable amounts to build cities and infrastructure may be a key factor in increasing the vulnerability of those same cities, roads and railways to floods.
In the three years of 2011 to 2013, China used more concrete (and therefore sand and gravel, which is by far the major ingredient) than the United States in all 100 years of the 20^th century. It was poured into the construction and land reclamation programmes that underpinned the country’s extraordinary economic growth. At what cost? What if extracting so much from the beds of major rivers, such as the Yangtze, Yellow and Pearl rivers, has depleted the health of those rivers and increased flood risks?
Why is sand mining a problem?
Unsustainable sand mining transforms the structure of rivers. By removing more than the river can naturally replace with the sediment it carries downstream, sand mining carves a deeper, narrower bed. This lowers the water level, speeds up flow and erodes banks – reducing the watershed’s capacity to absorb excess water during floods. It also impacts biodiversity by degrading habitats that fish and other species depend on.
The impact of sand mining on rivers is exacerbated by the impact of hydropower dams. Along with powering turbines, the reservoirs behind hydropower dams were expected to help control flood peaks – and they have. But dams don’t just trap water, they also trap sand and other sediment.
"Cumulatively, dams are thought to trap 77-99% of the natural sediment flows of China’s large rivers"
Cumulatively, dams are thought to trap 77-99% of the natural sediment flows of China’s large rivers, based on research on the Yangtze. What still gets through the barriers is mainly fine sediments like silt and clays, not sand or gravel. As a result, riverbeds and banks are not replenished, making sand mining downstream even more unsustainable and leading to greater erosion in the river channel and banks....

....MUCH MORE

*Because the cement in concrete releases CO2 from both the chemical process—decomposition of calcium carbonate (solid) to calcium oxide and carbon dioxide (gas): CaCO₃(s) → CaO(s) + CO₂(g)

and because this reaction needs fairly high heat to occur (~850 °C) you get a double whammy, 4% of world CO2 production from the calcination and 4% of the world's CO2 production from creating the heat source.

This is why the American concrete industry is a little bit defensive and makes a point to share their perspective:

....The manufacture of cement produces about 0.9 lbs of CO2 for every pound of cement. Since cement is only a fraction of the constituents in concrete, manufacturing a cubic yard of concrete (about 3,900 lbs) is responsible for emitting about 400 lbs of CO2. The release of 400 lbs of CO2 is about equivalent to:

The CO2 associated with using 16 gallons of gas in a vehicle
The CO2 associated with using a home computer for a year
The CO2 associated with using a microwave oven in a home for a year
The CO2 saved each year by replacing nine light bulbs in an average house with compact fluorescent light bulbs

Other sources responsible for CO2 emissions include:

28,400 lbs for an average U.S. house in a year
26,500 lbs for two family vehicles in the United States in a year
880,000 lbs for a 747 passenger jet traveling from New York to London

The reason concrete is responsible for 1.5 to 2% of the U.S. CO2 (due to humans) is the vast quantities of concrete used in the world around us. Concrete is the most widely used material on earth apart from water, with nearly 3 tons used annually for each man, woman and child.....

Previously on sand:

The World Is Running Out of Sand (Elon Musk to the rescue!)
I wasn't going to say anything but since the New Yorker, not exactly your go-to for all things silica, has this story, let's bust it wide open. We've got the scoop on grainy goodness.
"China's Latest Weapon Against Taiwan: the Sand Dredger"

"Aboard the Giant Sand-Sucking Ships That China Uses to Reshape the World"
Massive ships, mind-boggling amounts of sand, and an appetite for expansionism in the South China Sea: the recipe for a land grab like no other....
"The Mekong River, Water Wars, and Information Wars"

Today in Sand: Valuing One Of The Planet's Most Important Resources

Signposts: The Bull Market In Sand Is Over
Ineffable, inconsolable sadness.
"Sand: The Hot New Investment Opportunity" (SLCA)

State of Sand, 2014
What the Frack: "Good Times Run Out for Sand Producers"

Sand from Greenland’s Melting Ice Sheet Could Bring in Business

What's New In Sand: Breakthrough!!
"A World Built on Sand and Oil"
We too have experienced the allure of sand.
Usually at the beach but on the blog as well....
"Inside the deadly world of India’s sand mining mafia"
Sand, more interesting than one might suspect....

Hmmmm....maybe the fetish isn't just China's