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Re:Melting Greenland Is Awash in Sand by inflatableDodo on Saturday August 17, 2019 @04:26AM (#20722883)
>The world makes a lot of concrete, more than 10 billion tons a year, and is poised to make much more for a population that is forecast to grow by more than 25 percent by 2050. That makes sand, which is about 40 percent of concrete by weight, one of the most-used commodities in the world, and one that is becoming harder to come by in some regions.

And the more concrete you make, the more sand you get. What's not to like? Could this be why the US government is currently trying to buy Greenland, perhaps?

Re:Melting Greenland Is Awash in Sand by colordrops on Saturday August 17, 2019 @04:55AM (#20722954)
My understanding is that concrete production is one of the most energy intensive processes on earth, so despite the downvotes, you have a point.
Re:Melting Greenland Is Awash in Sand by inflatableDodo on Saturday August 17, 2019 @05:01AM (#20722974)
Second largest industrial producer of CO2. Shipping the sand long distance also makes it worse.
Re:Melting Greenland Is Awash in Sand by acjohnson55 on Saturday August 17, 2019 @05:55AM (#20723129)
And it's also impractical. Our issue isn't the absolute availability of sand, it's the easy availability near use sites.
Re:Melting Greenland Is Awash in Sand by Sharlin on Saturday August 17, 2019 @10:07AM (#20724105)
It’s not easily available near all use sites. Australia exports a lot of sand to the Middle East and South-East Asia, for example.
Re:Melting Greenland Is Awash in Sand by pfdietz on Saturday August 17, 2019 @08:42AM (#20723730)
And even if the energy input were totally renewable (or nuclear), the CO2 production would still be pretty large, since one is decomposing limestone into calcium oxide and CO2.
Re:Melting Greenland Is Awash in Sand by BruceM on Saturday August 17, 2019 @09:53AM (#20724038)
It is too bad more isn't done with lime mortars and plasters. Hydrated lime (CaO + H20 => Ca(OH)2) reacts with CO2 to form CaCO3 + H20. And it is fun to work with ...
Re:Melting Greenland Is Awash in Sand by pfdietz on Saturday August 17, 2019 @10:03AM (#20724087)
That can, at best, absorb the CO2 that was emitted when the CaO was made, if the CaO was made from limestone. To get CO2-free CaO would involve decomposing calcium silicate, perhaps by acid dissolution followed by the energetically expensive step of separating calcium chloride into lime and hydrochloric acid.
Re:Melting Greenland Is Awash in Sand by BruceM on Saturday August 17, 2019 @10:17AM (#20724146)
Yes... but another advantage here of lime over Portland cement is that the cooking of the limestone doesn’t require as much heat as the cooking of Portland cement. It won’t be carbon neutral, but it is a big improvement.
Re:Melting Greenland Is Awash in Sand by p0nce on Saturday August 17, 2019 @11:58AM (#20724626)
Isn't that the same limestone that can capture carbon if put into the oceans? or is it olivine?
Re:Melting Greenland Is Awash in Sand by pfdietz on Saturday August 17, 2019 @12:06PM (#20724660)
Olivine is usually discussed. However, I think limestone would enable some CO2 uptake, by formation of bicarbonate ions. The calcium ions would have to stay in solution, though.
Re:Melting Greenland Is Awash in Sand by michelb on Saturday August 17, 2019 @05:48AM (#20723110)
I think the USA is mostly interested in the Uranium.
Re:Melting Greenland Is Awash in Sand by pfdietz on Saturday August 17, 2019 @08:43AM (#20723733)
Not really. Uranium is last century's strategic resource.
Re:Melting Greenland Is Awash in Sand by SolonIslandus on Saturday August 17, 2019 @10:43AM (#20724270)
I would say they are interested in not letting other states get access to that uranium
Re:Melting Greenland Is Awash in Sand by pfdietz on Saturday August 17, 2019 @11:05AM (#20724378)
But why? Uranium is not terribly uncommon. If you own a home, the top meter of soil in your yard likely contains several kilograms of it.

Ample economical uranium supplies are relevant if there is large demand for uranium for power production (weapons programs can get more expensive uranium from wherever). But that's not where the world is going.

Re:Melting Greenland Is Awash in Sand by onetimemanytime on Saturday August 17, 2019 @04:50AM (#20722940)
USA would be very smart to buy land, problem is that there are no sellers. History has proven that buying is worth it.

Example: USA is running almost a $1 TRILLION deficit. Make it two and "buy" Greenland. No rational person one would complain and Denmark /Greenlanders could set up a special fund ala Norway with the money https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Pension_Fund_of_Nor...

Re:Melting Greenland Is Awash in Sand by Tinfoilhat666 on Saturday August 17, 2019 @05:18AM (#20723022)
The better option is that Denmark buys USA. They could make it a great country. Really, Danish are open for that: https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/denmark-offe...
Re:Melting Greenland Is Awash in Sand by chr1 on Saturday August 17, 2019 @08:45AM (#20723745)
If they don't include anti-democratic clauses in the contract the result will be exactly the same as if USA bought Denmark, that is Denmark will become a small state in USA.
Re:Melting Greenland Is Awash in Sand by okusername on Saturday August 17, 2019 @05:24AM (#20723048)
That's not real, it's meant to be "satire".
Re:Melting Greenland Is Awash in Sand by zeristor on Saturday August 17, 2019 @04:57AM (#20722961)
Greenland isn’t for sale, but China has been reported to be trying to charm the Greenlanders to join China.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-46386867

Hong Kong on ice?

Re:Melting Greenland Is Awash in Sand by ashishmalik on Saturday August 17, 2019 @05:52AM (#20723125)
Why China always try to capture the area of other country?
Re:Melting Greenland Is Awash in Sand by inflatableDodo on Saturday August 17, 2019 @06:01AM (#20723151)
Historically, it really isn't one of the worst offenders.
Re:Melting Greenland Is Awash in Sand by Mountain_Skies on Saturday August 17, 2019 @07:27AM (#20723426)
While certainly influenced by it, we don't live in the past, we live in the present. There was a time when one could say that the British weren't one of the worst offenders when it came to expansion. But then they were. China's expansionism might be new but that doesn't make it less of an issue.
Re:Melting Greenland Is Awash in Sand by onetimemanytime on Saturday August 17, 2019 @05:09AM (#20722993)
Not gonna happen. Doesn't Denmark ultimately have e veto power (National Security at least) over major issues in Greenland?

Buying is a loaded word. How about joining USA ? Then USA can duke it with Russia in the Artic game.

Or USA can crunch some numbers...might be cheaper to invade Canada. Fifth time is the charm as they say. Joking OK...maybe ;)

Re:Melting Greenland Is Awash in Sand by netsharc on Saturday August 17, 2019 @05:55AM (#20723130)
If only there was another way to get countries to do what "we" want, but nicely, because it would be mutually beneficial. We could call it "soft power".
Re:Melting Greenland Is Awash in Sand by KozmoNau7 on Saturday August 17, 2019 @08:44AM (#20723740)
>"No rational person one would complain"

One does not simply sell a nation and a people. The colonial days are over.

Re:Melting Greenland Is Awash in Sand by onetimemanytime on Saturday August 17, 2019 @10:15AM (#20724139)
No one is buying or selling people, at least not as slaves or for soap. However a territory has a value and a country can be compensated for it, assuming people at all levels agree to it. Greenlanders would be Americans as suppose to "Danish"