A non-renewable resource is a natural resource that cannot be re-made, re-grown or regenerated on a scale comparative to its consumption. It exists in a fixed amount that is being consumed or used up faster than it can be made by nature. Fossil fuels (such as coal, petroleum and natural gas) and nuclear power are non-renewable resources, as they do not naturally re-form at a rate that makes the way we use them sustainable and consumer materials to produce electricity. A renewable resource differs in that it may be used, but not used up.

This is as opposed to natural resources such as timber, which re-grows naturally and can, in theory, be harvested sustainably at a constant rate without depleting the existing resource pool and resources such as metals, which, although they are not replenished, are not destroyed when used and can be recycled. It is a resource that can not be re-used

A non-renewable resource is always drawn down with anabolic processes that use up energy.

Non-renewable fossil fuels

Natural resources such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas take millions of years to form naturally and cannot be replaced as fast as they are consumed. Eventually natural resources will become too costly to harvest and humanity will need to find other sources of energy. At present, the main energy sources used by humans are non-renewable.

Some natural resources, called renewable resources, are replaced by natural processes given a reasonable amount of time. Soil, water, forests, plants, and animals are all renewable resources as long as they are properly conserved. Solar, wind, wave, and geothermal energies are based on renewable resources. Renewable resources such as the movement of water (hydropower, including tidal power; ocean surface waves used for wave power), wind (used for wind power), geothermal heat (used for geothermal power); and radiant energy (used for solar power) are practically infinite and cannot be depleted, unlike their non-renewable counterparts, which are likely to run out if not used wisely. Still, these technologies are not fully utilized.

Economic models

Hotelling's rule is a 1931 economic model of non-renewable resource management by Harold Hotelling. It shows that efficient exploitation of a nonrenewable and nonaugmentable resource would, under otherwise stable economic conditions, lead to a depletion of the resource. The rule states that this would lead to a net price or "Hotelling rent" for it that rose annually at a rate equal to the rate of interest, reflecting the increasing scarcity of the resource.

The Hartwick's rule provides an important result about the sustainability of welfare in an economy that uses non-renewable resources.

See also

• Energy conservation
• Green design
• Hubbert's peak
• Liebig's law of the minimum
• Peak oil
• Overfishing
• Renewable resource

Notes

External links

• Non-Renewable Resources at NASA.gov
• Electricity from Non-Hydroelectric Renewable Energy Sources at EPA.gov
• Non-renewable energy resource at EPA.gov
• Environmental impacts of nuclear power at EPA.gov
• Environmental Stewardship at University of Illinois.edu