Federal University, Oye-Ekiti

Faculty: Humanities and Social Sciences

Department: Economics and Development Studies

Name: ADELEKE SAHEED IDOWU

Matric Number: EDS/12/0641

Course Title: Philosophy, history and development

Course Code: GST 104

Essay Topic: Renewable and non renewable resources.

Lecturer: Dr Ogunjobi

Aug, 2013
 RENEWABLE AND NON RENEWABLE RESOURCES

What are resources?

Resources are things humans can use to help them live and work. According to Oxford dictionary, a

resource is a supply of something that a country, or a person has and can use, especially to increase

their wealth. Examples are exploitation of mineral and other natural resources. It can also be

defined as the recovery of waste products to convert into materials that can be used again. A

resource is a naturally occurring, exploitable material that a society perceives to be useful to its

economic and material well-being (Introduction to Geography, Arthur Getis,13th Ed).

There are two types of resources, these are:

i) Natural resources or sources of energy ii) Artificial resources.

Natural resources are materials or things that people use from the earth. It is the natural processes

and forces persistent in the natural environment (www.cas.psu.edu). Natural resources are all the

things on Earth that support life. Plants, animals, air, and water are natural resources.

Natural resources are also things that people use to make life easier (Encarta dictionary 2009). The

availability of natural resources is a function of two things: the physical characteristics of the

resources themselves and human economic and technological conditions. The physical processes

that govern the formation, distribution, and occurrence of natural resources are determined by

physical laws over which people have no direct control. We take what nature gives us. To be

considered a resource, however, a given substance must be understood to be a resource. This is

cultural, not purely a physical circumstance.

Natural resources are usually recognized as falling into two broad classes:

1. Renewable resources

2. Non-renewable resources
RENEWABLE RESOURCES

What is renewable?

Renewable can be referred to as a resource that can be replenished or reformed either naturally or

by systemic recycling of used resources. Renewable is resource or source of energy that is replaced

naturally or controlled carefully and can therefore be used without the risk of finishing it all (Oxford

dictionary). According to Encarta 2009, renewable means a resource that is able to be renewed and

be capable of being begun or done again.

What are renewable resources?

Renewable resources, they are called renewable because they can grow again or never run out. It

can regrow or be replaced within a person’s lifespan (Pennsylvania State University 2006).

Renewable resources are natural resources that can be replenished or top up in a short period of

time. A renewable resource is something that is being continually replaced faster than we use it up.

It is renewed through exploration and technology, renewable resources can be exhausted. They are

naturally regenerated on a time frame that is relevant to human exploitation (www.cas.psu.edu).

Renewable resources are an important aspect of sustainability. Renewable resources are

valuable because they provide green energy. Renewable natural resources include those resources

useful to human economies that exhibit growth, maintenance, and recovery from exploitation over

an economic planning horizon. The natural environment, with soil, water, forests, plants and

animals are all renewable resources, as long as they are adequately monitored, protected and

conserved.

Examples are:

●Trees:- Trees are a good example of renewable resources. If cut down or replant, they can regrow

from seeds and sprouts. Trees are one of the most useful renewable natural resources. We use trees

to produce almost 8,000 different things. Wood is used to make most of these products. Tree wood

is in our homes, furniture, industries, buildings, roads, factories, paper, and on and on. Tree

chemicals are also used to produce things like rayon cloth, food, medicine, and rubber.
●Animals/Man:- Animals and human beings are another example. He reproduces babies and grows

up. They replace their old that die and new ones comes to existence.

●Biomass:- Such as forest, agriculture, solid waste, and landfill gases. It is the burning of plant

material, is a renewable resource. Even though the burning puts carbon dioxide into the atmosphere,

it also prevents a much greater amount of methane being released by the decomposing vegetation,

so it is rated as positive to the livelihood (Wikipedia 2013).

Biomass is the term used for all organic material originating from plants (including algae),

trees and crops and is essentially the collection and storage of the sun’s energy through

photosynthesis. Biomass energy or bio-energy is the conversion of biomass into useful forms of

energy such as heat, electricity and liquid fuels. Biomass for bioenergy comes either directly from

the land, as dedicated energy crops, or from residues generated in the processing of crops for food

or other products such as pulp and paper from the wood industry. Another important contribution is

from post consumer residue streams such as construction and demolition wood, pallets used in

transportation, and the clean fraction of municipal solid waste (Source: R.P. Overend, NREL,

2000).

●Solar/Sun- It is considered as a renewable source of energy because the sun's energy is

continuous. The sun has produced energy in the form of heat and light since the Earth formed. Solar

energy systems do not produce emissions and are often not harmful to the environment. Thermal

solar energy can heat water or buildings. Photovoltaic devices, or solar cells, directly convert solar

energy into electricity. It ranges from small applications that charge calculator and watch batteries,

to large systems that power residential dwellings ( Hearst Communications Inc. 2013).

●Water:- Water or hydropower is the renewable energy source that produces the most electricity in

the World. Water has a long history as an energy source. In the 1880s, the Wolverine Factory in

Michigan made use of a water turbine and the first hydroelectric plant was built on Wisconsin's Fox

River to harness the power of swiftly moving water. Hydroelectric power plants proliferated with

the ability to transmit electricity over longer distances. The release as needed, of water stored in
reservoirs behind dams, rivers, tidal streams and ocean waves produces electricity by spinning

turbines as it flows through pipes.

Air, sun and water are renewable natural resources too. They don’t regrow like plants nor

have babies like animals and human beings. But, they are always being renewed. They move in

cycles: they go from one place to another, and often back where they started, again and again. This

is a good thing, because all living things need air and water to survive.

●Wind/Waves:- Wind is the moving air created as the sun heats the Earth's surface. As long as the

sun is shining, the wind remains an infinite, renewable resource. Wind power is clean energy

because wind turbines do not produce any emissions. The classic Dutch windmill harnessed the

wind's energy hundreds of years ago. Modern wind turbines with three blades dot the landscape

today, turning wind into electricity. It is the fastest-growing source of new electric power, according

to U.S. Energy Information Administration (Hearst Communications Inc. 2013).

●Weather:- The weather is a set of all the phenomenon occurring in a given atmosphere area at a

given time. Most weather phenomenon occurs in the troposphere just below the stratosphere.

Weather refers generally, to day-to-day temperature and precipitation activity, whereas climate is

the term for the average atmospheric conditions over longer periods of time. The weather occurs

due to density of temperature and moisture differences between one place and another. On the

Earth’s surface, temperatures usually range +_40 degrees C(100F to -40degree F) annually. Over

thousands of years, changes in the Earth’s orbit have affected the amount and distribution of solar

energy received by the Earth and influence long-term climate. Human attempts to control the

weather have occurred throughout human history, and there is evidence that human activity such as

agriculture and industry has inadvertently modified weather patterns.

●Atmosphere:- The atmosphere is the thin layer of gasses that envelopes the Earth and held in place

by the planet’s gravity. Dry air consists of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 1% argon and other inert

gasses, such as carbon dioxide. The remaining gasses are often referred to as trace gasses, among

which are the greenhouse gasses such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and
ozone. Filtered air includes trace amounts of many other chemical compounds. Air also contains a

variable amount of water vapor and suspensions of water droplets and ice crystals seen as clouds.

Many natural substances may be present in tiny amounts in an unfiltered air sample, including dust,

pollen and spores, sea spray, volcanic ash, and meteoroids. Lightening is an atmospheric discharge

of electricity accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes

during volcanic eruptions or dust storms.

NON-RENEWABLE RESOURCES

Non-renewable resource is also known as a finite resource, it is a natural resource that does not

renew itself at a sufficient rate for sustainable economic extraction in meaningful human

timeframes (Wikipedia 2013). A non-renewable resource is a natural resource that cannot be re-

made or re-grown at a scale comparable to its consumption. Non-renewable can also be referred to

as resources which cannot be used again and again, like water and wind, and will eventually run out

and once they have been used they can’t be used again. They are found in the ground. There are

fixed amounts of these resources. They are not living things, and they are sometimes hard to find.

They don’t regrow and they are not replaced or renewed (www.resmarketplaces.org).

Non-renewable resources are resources for which there is a limited supply. The supply

comes from the Earth itself and, as it typically takes millions of years to develop, is finite. Non-

renewable sources are sources of energy that have a limited supply and will run out, and not be able

to be used in the future. A non-renewable resource is something that is not being replaced as we

consume it.

Categories of Non-renewable resources

Non-renewable resources can generally be separated into two main categories; it includes:

i) Fossil fuels

ii) Nuclear fuels

Fossil fuels are non-renewable resources that cannot be replenished in a short period of time. Fossil

fuels are derived from organic matter which has been trapped between layers of sediments within

the Earth for millions of years. The organic matter, typically plants, have decomposed and

compressed over time, leaving what are known as fossil fuel deposits. These deposits, and the

materials produced from them, tend to be highly combustible, making them an ideal energy source.

They are difficult to obtain as they are typically retrieved through drilling or mining, but fossil fuels

are worth the effort for the sheer amount of energy they produce. 

Examples are:

●Crude oil ●Coal ●Petroleum ●Natural gas ●Gas

●Crude Oil/Petroleum

Crude oil is an example of non-renewable resource categorized as fossil fuels that build up in liquid

form between the layers of the Earth’s crust. Billions of gallons of oil are used every year, but it

takes millions of years to be replaced. It is been used up oil much much faster than it is being

produced. Once we use up oil from the earth, it's gone. We can't wait millions of years for some

more. It is retrieved by drilling deep into the ground and pumping the liquid out. The liquid is then

refined and used to create many different products (www.bbc.co.uk)

Crude oil is a very versatile fuel and is used to make gasoline and other fuels produce things

like plastics as well as plastics, such as grocery bags, artificial food flavourings, heating oil, petrol,

diesel, jet fuel, and propane. The top three oil-producing countries are Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the

United States (socrates.berkeley.edu).

●Coal

Coal is also an example of non-renewable resource categorized as fossil fuels, it is the last of the

major fossil fuels. It is created by compressed organic matter; it is solid like rock and is obtained

through mining.
Coal is most typically used in home heating and the running of power plants, it is used in industries.

Out of all countries, China produces the most coal by far. According to the Statistical Review of

World Energy 2011, China produced an astounding 48.3% (3,240 million tons) of the world’s coal

in 2010, followed by the United States who produced a mere 14.8%.

●Gas

Natural gasses are examples of non-renewable resources categorized as fossil fuels, gathered below

the Earth’s crust. It goes through the process of drilling and pumped out like crude oil. It is an

essential sources of energy.

These gasses are most commonly used in home heating as well as gas ovens and grills. In the

presence, it is used for cooking. Methane and ethane are the most common types of gasses obtained

through this process. Russia, Iran, and Qatar are the countries with the largest recorded natural gas

reserves (Statistical Review of World Energy 2011).

Nuclear fuels

Nuclear fuels are other form of non-renewable resource used to produce energy. Nuclear fuels are

key to maintaining the Earth's environment since they are the cleanest of all non-renewable

resources. It is a naturally occurring element found within the Earth's core. Nuclear fuels are

primarily obtained through the mining and refining.

Examples are:

●Uranium ore ●Metal ores ●Iron ore

●Uranium ore

Uranium is a naturally occurring element found within the Earth's core. Most uranium deposits

occur in small quantities which miners gather together, refine, and purify. Once gathered, the

uranium is brought together and compounded into rods. The rods are then submersed into tanks of

water. When it reaches critical mass, uranium begins to break down and release energy which heats

the water it is immersed in, this is known as "fission’’. The heated water then creates pressure and it
is this pressure which drives the turbines that generate the electricity we use every day (Dictionary

Home 1996-2013).

●Metal ores

Metal ores are other examples of non-renewable resources. The metals themselves are present in

vast amounts in the earth's crust which can never be exhausted, and which are continually being

concentrated and replenished over time scales of millions of years, however their extraction by

humans only occurs where they are concentrated by natural processes such as heat, pressure,

organic activity, weathering and other processes to a level that is economically extractable and

where these processes occur or are brought near the earth's surface, generally over tens of thousands

to millions of years. As such, localised deposits of metal ores near the surface which can be

extracted economically by humans are non-renewable in human timeframes, but on a world scale

metal ores as a whole are inexhaustible, because the amount ultimately available vastly exceeds

human demand, on all timeframes. In other words, metal ores are non-renewable, but generally

inexhaustible. In this respect, metal ores are considered vastly greater in supply to fossil fuels

because metal ores are formed by crustal scale processes which make up a much larger portion of

the earth's near-surface environment than those that form fossil fuels and without the need for

specialized conditions where carbon based life flourishes and fossil fuels can form

(businessDictionary.com).

●Iron ore

It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element in the whole planet Earth,

forming much of Earth’s outer and inner core. The resources itself are in vast amounts in the earth's

crust, scales of millions of years. It is obtained through mining. Iron chemical compounds, which

include ferrous and ferric compounds, have many uses. Iron oxide mixed with aluminium powder

can be ignited to create a thermite reaction, used in welding and purifying ores. Iron plays an

important role in biology, blood circulation and is found in certain foods and vegetables (Barbier, E.

2007, Natural resources and Economic Development).

resources are re-producible things such as farm crops or trees, which can be harvested and then

grow back and renew themselves cycle after cycle while non renewable ones produce or grow once,

after which they are harvested and die completely ( ask.com 2013).

Renewable resources are infinite in supply, this resource type can renew itself while non renewable

resources are finite eventually, if they are used up, there will be none left (www.ehow.com).

The resources we use that are not easily replaced are non renewable resources, for example: Coal

can take millions of years to replace it. Sun and air have an unlimited supply, so they are renewable

resources.

When a natural resource is replaced by natural processes and this at a rate that is comparable to the

rate of human consumption, it is considered a renewable resource while non renewable resource is a

natural resource that does not renew itself at a sufficient rate for sustainable economic extraction in

meaningful human timeframes. A natural resource that cannot be remade or re-grown at a scale

comparable to its consumption.

Renewable resources can be easily replaced after they are used. For example, sunlight, wind, beef,

corn, and water while non-renewable resources are very difficult, if not impossible to replace once

they have been used. Examples include gold, diamonds, coal, oil, natural gas, and copper.

Non-renewable resources are resources that are hard to find and this are resources that only found in

few places like oil, gold, coal, etc and we are not suppose to abuse while renewable resources are

resources that are always there and can be easily be found everywhere like air.
Renewable resources:

1. Hydro-power (water)

2. Geothermal (heat from earth's interior--usually heat from magma chambers)

3. Solar Energy

4 Wind energy (wind turbines with the intent of using the wind to create energy)

5. Wood (forests if planted correctly)

6. Agriculture (plant and animals again, if utilized responsibly)

7. Biomass (this includes wood and wood waste, landfill gas, biogas, ethanol, and

biodiesel)

Non renewable resources:

Examples of Non Renewable Resources

Non-renewable resources are resources for which there is a limited supply. The
supply comes from the Earth itself and, as it typically takes millions of years to
develop, is finite. 

Categories of Non-Renewable Resources

Non-renewable resources can generally be separated into two main categories; fossil
fuels and nuclear fuels.

Fossil Fuels

Fossil fuels are derived from organic matter which has been trapped between layers
of sediments within the Earth for millions of years.

1. Crude Oil/Petroleum

2. Natural Gas
3. Oil

4. Coal

Nuclear Fuels:

The other form of non-renewable resource used to produce energy, nuclear fuels, is

primarily obtained through the mining and refining. It is a naturally occurring

element found within the Earth's core.

5. Copper

6. Gold

7. Uranium ore

8. Iron ore
CONCLUSION
Natural resources, both renewable and non renewable, are important to all of us. Our future depends

on them (Pennsylvania State University, 2006). The natural environment encompasses all living and

non living things occurring naturally on Earth. Earth science generally recognizes four spheres

namely the lithosphere, the hydrosphere, the atmosphere and the biosphere. Man’s impact on the

natural environment includes activities in ecosystem, habitat and species: agriculture; energy;

forestry; industry; transport; recreation and infrastructures (Robert W. Christopherson 1996,

Geosystems: An Introduction to Physical Geography). The earth is the natural environment in

which enormous natural resources are inhabited. The importances of the natural environment in

various ways have been unfolded, explained, and categorized based on their nature of existence.

The different ways in which the natural environments have been influenced by human and their

activities which greatly have both negative and positive impacts have been extensively expounded.
References

Barbier, E. 2007, Natural resources and Economic Development

businessDictionary.com

Dictionary Home 1996-2013

Encarta dictionary 2009

Hearst Communications Inc. 2013

Introduction to Geography, Arthur Getis,13th Ed

Oxford dictionary

Pennsylvania State University, 2006

R.P. Overend, NREL, 2000

Robert W. Christopherson 1996, Geosystems: An Introduction to Physical Geography

socrates.berkeley.edu

Statistical Review of World Energy 2011

Wikipedia 2013

www.ask.com 2013

www.bbc.co.uk

www.cas.psu.edu

www.ehow.com

www.resmarketplaces.org