Natural Resources

Natural Resources Natural resources are parts of the environment used by living organisms for food, shelter, and all other needs. Examples: water, air, food, plants Materials and energy needed to make cars, books, computers, gasoline and electricity Renewable and nonrenewable resources

1. Renewable Resources Renewable resource is a natural resource that is recycled or replaced by ongoing natural processes. Examples: 1. Water and carbon cycle through the Earth. 2. Food Trees Sunlight Wind

RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES e.g. biomass, solar, wind, wave, tidal, hydroelectric, geothermal Takes a shorter time to form (e.g. decade or two) Can be reused or is very abundant Advantages Won’t run out Environmentally friendly Disadvantages Geographically selected Inefficient

2. Nonrenewable Resources A nonrenewable resource is a natural resource that cannot be replaced once they are gone B. Examples: 1. Minerals ( diamonds, sand, gravel, the graphite used to make pencils) Metals( gold, silver, copper, tin) Top soil – takes hundreds of years to replace Forest – “

C. It is the raw material used to make: fuels, gasoline, plastics, chemicals, pesticides, fertilizers

3. Fossil Fuels A. Fossil Fuels include coal, natural gas, oil, gasoline, heating oil and kerosene. However, the burning of fossil fuels is polluting our air and water, and put carbon in the air (greenhouse effect) Used in: creating electricity, cars, factories

NON-RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES e.g. fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas) and nuclear energy (uranium, plutonium) Takes a long time to form (e.g. millions of years) Cannot be reused Advantages Cheap Readily available Efficient Multipurpose (e.g. oil for cars, heating) Disadvantages Running out Polluting or radioactive

Questions What are natural resources? Compare and contrast renewable and nonrenewable resources. Explain why fossil fuels have this name?