GPE Original Article | By: Ray Murray | 23rd June 2017:
In May 2016, an article was published on the BBC Global News website, “BBC Capital”. The article by Renuka Rayasamon was entitled, “Even Desert City Dubai Imports Its Sand. This Is Why.”
Some of the key points which the author made are as follows:
- After water, sand is the most abundantly used natural resource.
- With a global building boom and the arrival of hydraulic fracturing technology for oil and gas in the United States, the demand for sand has been skyrocketing.
- Demand for sand is spread unevenly across the world, with China, for example, having used more sand in the last four years (up to 2016) than the US has in the last century. Globally, China accounts for a fifth of the world’s sand imports, according to the Trade Statistics Branch of the United Nations.
Even the United Arab Emirates imported $456m worth of sand, stone and gravel in 2014, according to the UN, thus, despite being in the heart of the desert, imported sand built Dubai, for the simple reason that:
Wind-formed desert sand is too smooth for construction.
To read full BBC Capital article – please click here.
Do We Stand On The Threshold Of A Desert-Sand Building Revolution?
Independent British research engineer, Robert Murray-Smith, has been researching the properties and potential of graphene and other materials, such as hemp, during the past few years.
He very recently conducted experiments which involved the production and testing of concrete that included graphene and different types of sand in the mix.
The results appear worthy of serious interest – especially since his experiments with graphene combined with an ordinarily unusuable type of sand, known in the UK as kiln-dried sand, produced an extremely strong form of concrete.
As Murray-Smith explains:
“Kiln-dried sand is considered unusable as a construction sand for renders and concretes – we managed to make it usable”
Now, as the short video below explains, what he is asking for are sand samples from deserts around the world to be sent to him, to see if he and his team can make that currently unusable sand into usable sand.
If he and his team, or indeed other researchers, succeed in producing an extremely strong Graphene Concrete using desert-sand, this could revolutionize the building industry around the world.
Video Posted On YouTube : 23rd June 2017
If You Wish To Support Robert Murray-Smith’s Research:
We will post updates on any progress made by Robert Murray-Smith and his team here in the GPE News section.
If you wish to contact Robert Murray-Smith for further information or to support his research, please email him directly at: robertmurraysmith64@gmail.com
Website: To visit Robert Murray-Smith’s YouTube Channel – please click here.
