https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/danmark-er-ved-loebe-toer-grus-et-af-de-vigtigste-raastoffer-verden-har?cid=soc_facebook_drnyheder_p8om6ldv&fbclid=IwAR2IoohIeSQMmIQXYZsFHOs-u_AGtFi9nk3K7B4u-YuunMpQHaBhp-fVzaw
Dig machines pulls gravel from the depths of the gravel pit near Reerslev, about half an hour from Copenhagen. They have done so for more than 40 years, but by next year, that will end.
The gravel pit, like many others across the country, nearly empty. For that reason, Denmark risks running out of the raw resources that are used to create asphalt and concrete for roads and houses, respectively. So says a report created by the engineering company Niras for Danske Regioner.
"Denmark is building at a ferocious pace, and as such, our consumption of the raw resource will increase exponentially. At the same time, our gravel pits are close to being empty, so we will be lacking in gravel" said Heino Knudsen, who is chairman for Danske Regioners Miljøudvalg.
Towards 2040 will the demand for gravel increase by more than 50%, according to Niras. By then the gravel pits will be empty, and new extraction areas will have to be found. It is particularly grim in Region Hovedstad, which, according to projections, will see the end of gravel pits in 2027.
According to Per Kalvig, who is a geologist and leader of Videnscenter for Mineralske Råstoffer og Materialer, Danske Regioners worries are warranted.
"Gravel is one of the most important raw resources that the world possesses. It is a component for all infrastucture, both for buildings and roads, but now complications are arising in the supply chain" said Per Kalvig.
NCC, who owns the gravel pit in Reerslev, are already accounting for an increase in expenditures when they inevitably have to move on to other gravel pits further away from Copenhagen. Transporting gravel is very expensive.
If a solution is not found to the gravel issue is not found within the near future, it could become necessary to import from other countries. That would mean a much more expensive bill for Danes, due to the increase in prices for transportation.
"If raw resources become scarce, then building projects become more expensive. That goes for both large infrastructure projects and smaller, private building projects" said Heino Knudsen from Danske Regioner.
Already now is it more expensive to transport gravel than it is to extract it.
When, for example, the gravel pit in Reerslev is empty, then there is a dire lack of a contingency plan for how to make sure there is enough gravel for building projects, according to Heino Knudsen.
He believes the government is ignoring the issues regarding raw resources.
"I'm disappointed that they are not working with us to create a unified plan."
Per Kalvig agrees that something needs to be done.
"There is currently no plans as to how more gravel will be secured in the future" he said.
As late as yesterday evening, a majority in Region Hovedstad decided to open up for the possibility of more import from third parties.
According to Anne Ehrenreich from Venstre, who made the proposal, they are aware of the environmental damages, but also believes that there is simultaneously others to take into consideration.
"We have made the decision that we would rather have the gravel transported from a bit farther away, with the consequences regarding CO2 it might entail, than to dig and destroy the areas in which people already live."
Heino Knudsen believes that the decision for Danish regions to take their own initiative to increase import is the wrong approach.
"An increase in import will mean an increase in environmental damages. Instead, we need a single, long-term plan. Can more gravel be collected from the sea? Can we recycle more?"
Per Kalvig also believes that there is yet an unresolved potential to extract more gravel in Denmark, and that there is a need for a greater plan to extract the raw resource, rather than import it.
"To import is an easy solution. But is it a sustainable one? You are just moving our problems somewhere else."
The Minister of Environment, Jakob Elleman-Jensen (Venstre), has declined an interview.
so the gravel wars was actually speculative fiction
Don't the have other mining industrirs they could be using as a source of gravel. Most mines pump out huge amounts of spoil.
I read that as gavel and for a second I thought they were running out of hammers.
Danmark is the wad of dirt the icecaps pushed ahead of themselves. You'd have to go miles and miles downwards to even hit rock. There are tiny islands here and there in the kingdom that are actually rocky, but apparently not rocky enough to meet demand.
First sentence sounds about right
https://fi.somethingawful.com/images/smilies/emot-v.gif
Well long ago a bunch of nordies dumped out their champerpots off the edges of their mountains. And we named the heap 'sweden'.
IIRC(looking for the video) there’s a very specific type of sand/gravel/silicate required for construction
Alright sure but without Norway your country looks like a big ol' penis so I mean, enjoy your rocks I guess
You're one to talk. We might be a big ol' throbbin' cock, but you're just the spunk we dismissively shot off into the corner.
I love scandinavian banter.
gravel and crushed limestone excavation is super serious, they've mined up the interior of one of the peninsula's on lake erie over the last 100 years or so, and the great lakes themselves are dotted with all sorts of quarries and abandoned quarries
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