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Obviously it'll become more expensive until we no longer need the resource, find an alternative, or recycle. Next.
by bdamm 9y ago
Obviously it'll become more expensive until we no longer need the resource, find an alternative, or recycle. Next.
- 0xdada 9y agoConcrete is a very good material so I don't see "no longer needing it" happening any time soon. Finding an alternative and recycling both sound like hard to tackle and expensive, I wouldn't say this scarcity can be so easily dismissed.
- hueving 9y agoCrushing rocks to make sand is a fine alternative. It's just a matter of additional cost, which will become viable as shortages drive up the cost of natural sand.
- randomdata 9y agoThe parent's point is that as something becomes more and more scarce, the price will increase. As the price increases, fewer and fewer projects will be able to justify its cost, leading to many to have to find alternatives or not be built at all. To take it to the extreme, as price continues to rise further, at some point there will be no project that creates enough value to justify the cost of concrete, at which point it will "no longer be needed". He is not dismissing anything, just pointing out a simplified rule of economics.
- Florin_Andrei 9y agoLuckily, the planet is obviously designed to sustain very well a fully-market-based approach to using its resources. /s
- gozur88 9y agoIn this case it really is.
- ominous 9y agoThe planet will be fine.
- Florin_Andrei 9y agoHeck, the Universe will be fine.
- tyingq 9y agoWould be funny if this is the second wind for the Middle East after peak oil. Not that shipping sand sounds profitable. Edit: Apparently, desert sand is too smooth/fine for most construction use.