The planet has a large amount of natural resources and humans have been taking advantage of them for thousands of years, but the question is, can we always do so without worrying about their depletion? This depends on the type of natural resource we are talking about, which is why natural resources are classified as renewable resources, non-renewable resources and inexhaustible resources. This classification is based on the possibility that the resource has of regenerating itself. In this article from Green Ecology, we will explain what renewable resources are and examples , as well as explaining the differences that exist between renewable and non-renewable resources.
What are renewable resources?
Natural resources are those that are naturally regenerated at a rate greater than their consumption , therefore, we would be talking about resources that we could supply ourselves with continuously without harming future generations by leaving them without availability of these.
To learn more about this type of natural resources and others, we recommend this other post about Natural resources: definition and types .
Examples of renewable resources
There are many renewable resources available to us, although sometimes it is not so easy to take advantage of them due to the high cost of their installation. These are examples of known renewable resources :
Sun
We can obtain heat and electricity from solar radiation and this is possible through solar panels that transform the sun’s rays, either by photovoltaic panels to obtain energy or photothermal panels to generate heat. This type of energy is clean and renewable. The problem is that, although it only requires a large initial economic investment and then does not require further investment, only maintenance over a long period of time, not everyone can afford it.
For more information about the sun as a renewable or inexhaustible natural resource , we offer you these other articles:
- Is the sun a renewable resource or energy or not?
- What is solar energy and what is it used for ?
- Advantages and disadvantages of solar energy .
Wind
As with the sun, we can obtain energy through wind with windmills called wind turbines . We are also talking about clean and renewable energy, since the wind does not run out even if there are seasons with more or less volume. However, wind turbine installations have to be located in mountainous areas and can cause erosion. In addition, wind turbines emit a lot of noise, thus producing noise pollution in the places where they are located.
Here you can learn more about the Advantages and Disadvantages of Wind Energy .
Water
Water is a very important and vital renewable resource for living beings. In fact, there are countries with water shortages where their inhabitants die due to lack of it. This resource, in addition to being used for direct consumption, is also used for the food industry, for recreational use, to generate energy from hydroelectric plants, for personal hygiene, etc. For example, water is a renewable natural resource that is used to obtain tidal energy , which uses the tides of the oceans and seas, or wave energy , which uses the movement of the waves themselves.
We recommend that you read this other article on Why water is a renewable but limited resource .
Animals
These provide food for humans and other carnivorous or omnivorous animals and, in general, can be considered a renewable source of food. Other uses of this type of renewable resource are that they are used for the textile industry , for example, in obtaining leather. Today, some animals are still used for farm work and other leisure uses, such as in shows, circuses, zoos, etc.
This resource is also overexploited, especially for the food industry . Large hectares of land are needed to raise the number of animals that the population demands. As a result, forests are being deforested for intensive livestock farming. The use of animals in general as a renewable resource has been causing various controversies for years.
Floors
Plants, in addition to serving as food for a wide variety of animals, are also food for humans. In addition to the use of plants in the food industry , they have a very important use in the pharmaceutical industry . You have surely also heard about alternative energies, one of which is the generation of energy with biomass , which is nothing other than using forestry and agricultural resources to obtain energy. Other products that we can obtain from plants are wood and paper .
The problem with this resource is that, despite being renewable, it is overexploited, causing soil desertification. For example, in Argentina, the soil is impoverished due to overexploitation by soybean plantations.
Geothermal energy
Geothermal energy is a renewable resource , since it is the internal heat of the Earth , that is, it originates in the core of the planet. To learn more about geothermal energy, you can consult this other post on Geothermal energy: definition, advantages and disadvantages .
Differences between renewable and non-renewable resources
In addition to renewable resources, there are also non-renewable resources. Non-renewable resources are found in nature in limited quantities , as they require long periods of time to regenerate and we consume them much faster than the time they need to recover. Some examples are minerals, oil, natural gas and coal.
There are major differences between renewable and non-renewable resources :
- On the one hand, renewable resources, as we have already mentioned, regenerate quickly and can be found in large quantities and, on the other hand, non-renewable resources regenerate very slowly, being limited.
- Obtaining renewable resources to generate energy is very expensive compared to obtaining non-renewable resources. In addition, non-renewable resources produce larger amounts of energy and it is well known how to obtain it. However, obtaining energy from some non-renewable resources is still only halfway there or requires large sites to obtain it.
- You may be wondering what type of resource is most beneficial for the environment. These are renewable resources due to their capacity for renewal, although it is true that sometimes the infrastructure needed to obtain them damages the environment where they are found, as happens with hydroelectric plants or wind turbines in wind farms.
- Another difference is that renewable resources can generally be found all over the planet, which is not the case with non-renewable resources. This situation creates conflicts and wars between countries, as well as creating enormous inequality. For example, wars in the Middle East are the result of conflicts over resources such as oil and natural gas. This is a somewhat paradoxical result, since countries with more non-renewable resources are ultimately poorer than those with fewer non-renewable resources.
Today, we are consuming resources at an uncontrolled rate, we are overexploiting the planet and the consequences are already being seen. We must consume responsibly if we want to survive as a species, since our survival depends on these resources, whether renewable or non-renewable. In this link you will find more information about the Overexploitation of natural resources: causes and consequences .
Finally, if you want to delve deeper into this topic, we recommend you take a look at this other article on Renewable and non-renewable energies: examples and summary and this video from Green Ecology on the differences between renewable and non-renewable resources, as well as examples of each type.
