Nonrenewable Natural Resources

Nonrenewable resources are formed when plants and animals (often aquatic) are buried and have heat and pressure applied to them over thousands of years.

These plants and animals are called fossils and the resources that are created from their remains are called fossil fuels.

Fossil Fuels= CON

· Coal (Formed from peat)

· Oil

· Natural gas

Fossil fuels are used to produce electricity and oil for cars/ vehicles and are also used to heat / power our homes and businesses.

Fossil fuels are considered to be non-renewable resources.

This means that once they are used up, we cannot get more because the process to create them takes too long.

Rocks and minerals are also considered to be non-renewable because it takes a very long time for the Earth to produce new rocks and minerals.

Rocks are part of a cycle, but the rock cycles takes thousands of years to produce new rock.

Renewable Resources

Renewable resources can be produced again in a short amount of time.

Although they can be used up, they can be reproduced within a lifetime, which is why they are considered renewable.

Renewable resources go through a cycle.

· Plants

· Water

· Oxygen

· Animals

· Soil/land

Inexhaustible/ Alternative Resources

Alternative/ Inexhaustible resources cannot be used up. We can use as much as we need and it does not hurt the supply.

1. Wind- energy from the movement of air

a. Captured by wind turbines

b. Wind energy can be converted into other forms of energy.

c. No pollution

**Drawbacks – Expensive construction;

can only be located in windy areas.

2. Solar- energy from the Sun

a. Solar panels are used to capture solar energy and convert it into useable energy.

b. No pollution

**Drawbacks – Expensive; requires a lot

of space; only produces energy during the

daytime and on “sunny” days and locations.

3. Water- “Hydro”

a. Hydroelectric power uses water to create energy.

b. Dams are used to collect the energy from water flowing over turbines.

c. Electricity can be constantly generated using water.

** Drawbacks – Significantly alters the

landscape; limited suitable locations for power

plants; can affect wildlife; expensive.

Alternative Energy Resources

4. Geothermal- “Earth Heat”

a. Heat from the Earth is used to heat homes/ buildings.

b. Heat energy is converted into useable energy by drilling into the earth and converting water to steam which powers turbines.

** Drawbacks – Drilling down to heated rock

is difficult ; expensive to build power plants;

prime locations for power plans are remote

and energy is lost in transportation.

5. Biofuels- “Life fuels”

a. Energy that comes from plants or animal waste.

b. “Bioconversion” uses plants (like corn and sugar cane) and animal waste (poop) to produce biofuels such as methanol, ethanol, and biodiesel.

c. We can use biomass (recently living plant and animal material), animal manure, woodchips, seaweed, cornstalks, etc. to create biofuels.

d. Biofuels are created from

organic material and increasing

crop production reduces CO2 levels

**Drawbacks – Land needed for food production is used to produce crops for fuel contributing to the food shortages and hunger. Raises prices for crops needed for food since some will be used for fuel. Crops for fuels can only be produced during their growing season.