NON-RENEWABLE RESOURCES

 Non-renewable resources can also be used as a source to produce electricity  Most non-renewable resources are made from fossil fuels  Fossil fuels take millions of years to form and are therefore NOT easily replaced

 Fossil fuels are made from parts of animals and plants after they have decayed  We will learn about three types of non-renewable resources

Nuclear Energy  Nuclear energy is produced from the breaking down of an atom (the smallest particle of matter)  The most common material used is uranium  Canadian scientists have developed a special type of nuclear reactor called the CANDU reactor

 The CANDU reactor converts energy given off from the breakdown of matter into heat to convert water to steam  The steam is used to spin turbines (generators) to create electricity

 Cost of uranium is cheap, nuclear power plants do not produce air pollution  Saskatchewan has one of the largest reserves of uranium, however we do not currently have a power plant  Power plants are expensive to build and the waste of a power plant is radioactive

Coal  Almost half of the world’s electricity comes from burning coal  Coal is burned to heat water into steam. The steam is used to spin generators to produce electricity  Using coal is relativity cheap and there are other products of using coal such as fertilizers, paints and plastics

 Some negative aspects of using coal is that mining coal is dangerous and harmful to the environment  Burning coal is harmful to the environment  Coal is also non-renewable, which means that eventually it will get used up

Natural Gas  Natural gas is mostly methane, a flammable gas that can be extracted underground  Natural gas is very clean burning and has little air pollution given off  Natural gas is burned to create steam, which spins a generator to produce electricity

 However natural gas can also be used to cook food, heat water, etc  Mining natural gas also disrupts the environment and there is the risk of an explosion