Finance & economics | Life’s a beach

China is churning out solar panels—and upsetting sand markets

The hunt for grains with a silica concentration of more than 99.9%

Sand-digging machinery in the Kuakhai River near Bhubaneswar, India
Photograph: Getty Images

Sand is everywhere. Yet only a certain sort can be used to make the ultra-clear glass required for smartphones and solar panels. It must have a silica concentration of more than 99.9%, against less than 80% for construction material. This high-quality sand is scarce: of the 50bn or so tonnes extracted each year, less than 1% can be used to produce regular glass. A tiny fraction of that is pure enough for solar panels.

This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Life’s a beach”

From the March 16th 2024 edition

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