Concrete

Generali

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/03/24/how-china-used-more-cement-in-3-years-than-the-u-s-did-in-the-entire-20th-century/

China used more concrete in the period 2011-3 than the USA did in the entire C20th! About 50% more. This explains how.

The statistic seems incredible, but according to government and industry sources, it appears accurate. What’s more, once you dive into the figures, they have a surprisingly logical explanation that reveals some fascinating differences between the two countries, and some ominous realities about China.

Loughton_Monkey

Interesting, but not surprising.

US houses are often made of wood. China uses concrete.

When I lived in Shanghai, the Chinese used to joke that their national bird was the "Crane", while pointing at the 100 or so large cranes you would be able to see in the near viscinity. Wherever you were.

I suspect Graham will be along in a minute with another statistic. Like UK's hard-pressed, poverty-stricken, underclass used more bricks last year to prop up the rusting cars they can no longer afford to run, than were used in the entire house building industry since the Conservatives got elected in 2010.

antrobus

Loughton_Monkey wrote: »

Interesting, but not surprising.

US houses are often made of wood. China uses concrete.

....

Ah, good point.

According to the Western Wood Products Association, over 90 percent of American homes are built with wood.

http://continuingeducation.construction.com/article.php?L=5&C=645

Generali

Fair point. The Hoover Dam wasn't made of wood though, nor was a gazillion malls up and down the country.

londonTiger

Loughton_Monkey wrote: »

Interesting, but not surprising.

US houses are often made of wood. China uses concrete.

When I lived in Shanghai, the Chinese used to joke that their national bird was the "Crane", while pointing at the 100 or so large cranes you would be able to see in the near viscinity. Wherever you were.

I suspect Graham will be along in a minute with another statistic. Like UK's hard-pressed, poverty-stricken, underclass used more bricks last year to prop up the rusting cars they can no longer afford to run, than were used in the entire house building industry since the Conservatives got elected in 2010.

Very simplistic way of looking at it.

A rememebr reading somewhere that at one point Libya had more use of satellite and fibre optic internet than the UK.

This is because we've had copper wire infrastracture put in place decades ago. But the up and coming economies tend to play "catch up" with infrastructure and often use the newest stuff.

In western countries modern houses were build half a century ago. In the UK we still live in pre ww2 housing in some parts, and in London most are build just shortly after ww2.

Chinese have 1B+ population and a large percentage of that are moving from mudhut and wood housing into the cities which tend to use concrete.

Nothing to do with "USA building houses out of wood". - Perhaps true in the country where everyone has detached housing - but vast majority live in cities and wood houses are too dangerous.

Also just cos a house has wood cladding on the outside does not mean it is made from wood. Sometimes wood cladding is used just to give a house a period look.

N1AK

Generali wrote: »

Fair point. The Hoover Dam wasn't made of wood though, nor was a gazillion malls up and down the country.

What's irritating is that it doesn't make any mention of how much concrete was used in the US after 2000. It's hard to do a nuanced comparison between the two figures given, besides China obviously using considerably more per year.

What I'd be interested to know is how much more cement would China have to use to use as much per person as America has.

vivatifosi

Thanks for posting this Gen. Some parts of it are truly astonishing... in particular the picture showing the changing skyline, and the population of the Pearl River delta conurbation. Plus the part about half of Chinese infrastructure being built since 2000.

Which raises the question, where does this all end?

purch

londonTiger wrote: »

Very simplistic way of looking at it.

What did you expect :eek:

Generali

vivatifosi wrote: »

Which raises the question, where does this all end?

Well perhaps the beginning of the end is next year. The demographic impacts of the one child family are going to start to hit: the population will start to age and decline from then on.

I think it's likely (and the Chinese Premier agrees with me) that growth will start to slow significantly but where we go from here is interesting.

So far we've had an investment led growth in the Chinese economy. As an example, GDP per head is almost $7,000 but average incomes are about $5,000. Any transition from investment led growth to growth via other means (increased consumption, increased exports or increased Government spending) is likely to be fraught with problems for various reasons.

However, if we look back in history China not being the largest economy in the world is an exception rather than the norm. If China continues to grow, this time it's not different.

Loughton_Monkey

Generali wrote: »

Well perhaps the beginning of the end is next year. The demographic impacts of the one child family are going to start to hit: the population will start to age and decline from then on.

Statistically, what you say might be true, but it is nothing like our own "ageing" problem. For example, in UK, it's a problem because:

• All health services, and most 'care' is free.
• For retirees who generally 'had it good'.
• And who are funded with generous state pensions.

In China, the situation is poles apart. As a general rule, there is little or no burden on 'society' or the tax payer as a result of older people. Yes, there will be individuals who will need to support their ageing parents in the manner to which they were accustomed. Since the young individuals are infinitely richer, I don't think they are losing sleep over it.

Generali wrote: »

However, if we look back in history China not being the largest economy in the world is an exception rather than the norm. If China continues to grow, this time it's not different.

True. I think the most staggering thing is the rate and degree to which their wealth was destroyed by Mao. Almost equally staggering is the degree to which it has grown since his death.

It just shows what can be done when a country is run 'commercially' by a sort of dictatorship who have a 100% commercial focus. No 'opposition' or elections to worry about. Just 'get it done'.

Of course the main worry would be how long that can be sustained against a tide of international influences that could rub off onto the Chinese population. Once they start demanding 'rights' or 'a degree of democracy' or a different distribution of the wealth, then the thought of up to 1 billion mutineers may cause a few nights loss of sleep in Beijing.

kabayiri

Concrete releases a lot of heat when setting.

So now we know who is responsible for global warming

Actually, it seems a benign substance. Far from it.

Workers take care!

(Not that worker safety is a particular concern over there...)