Geology 4.1: Renewable Resources and Non-Renewable Resources

Materials that we extract from Earth are the basis of modern civilization. Mineral and energy resources from the crust are the raw materials from which the products used by society are made. Like most people who live in highly industrialized nations, you may not realize the quantity of resources needed to maintain your present standard of living. The annual per capita consumption of several important metallic and non-metallic mineral resources for the United States is each person’s prorated share of the materials required by industry to provide the vast array of homes, highways, cars, electronics, cosmetics, packaging, and so on that modern society demands.

The number of different mineral resources required by modern industries is large. Although some countries, including the United States, have substantial deposits of many important minerals, no nation is entirely self-sufficient. This reflects the fact that important deposits are limited in number and localized in occurrence. All countries must rely on international trade to fulfill at least some of their needs.

Resources are commonly divided into two broad categories, renewable and nonrenewable. Renewable resources can be replenished over relatively short time spans such as months, years, or decades. Common examples are plants and animals for food, natural fibers for clothing, and trees for lumber and paper. Energy from flowing water, wind, and the sun are also considered renewable.

By contrast, non-renewable resources continue to be formed in Earth, but the processes that create them are so slow that significant deposits take millions of years to accumulate. For human purposes, Earth contains fixed quantities of these substances. When the present supplies are mined or pumped from the ground, there will be no more. Examples are fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas, and many important metals such as iron, copper, uranium, and gold. Some of these non-renewable resources, such as aluminum, can be used over and over again. Others, such as oil, cannot be recycled.