There is no denying the
fact that in Modern Economic theory, a non-renewable resource known
as a predetermined reserve is a resource that does not renovate itself at an
appropriate rate for supportable economic abstraction in expressive human
time-frames. We can introduce a model as carbon-based progressively resulting
fuel. The unique biological material, with the help of heat and pressure,
becomes a gasoline such as oil or gas, Fossil Fuel which may be considered as
coal, petroleum, and natural gas, are all non-renewable resources.
Metal ores are supplementary examples of
non-renewable resources. The metals themselves are present-day in vast amounts
in the earth's crust, and are constantly focused and refilled over millions of
years. However their extraction by humans only occurs where they are
concentrated by natural processes (such as heat, pressure, organic activity,
weathering and other processes) enough to become economically viable to
extract. These processes generally take from tens of thousands to millions of
years. As such, localized deposits of metal ores near the surface which can be
extracted economically by humans are non-renewable in human time-frames, but on
a world scale, metal ores as a whole are inexhaustible, because the amount
vastly exceeds human demand, on all time frames. Though they are theoretically
non-renewable, just like with rocks and sand, humans could never deplete the
world's supply. In this respect, metal ores are considered vastly greater in
supply to fossil fuels because metal ores are formed by crustal scale processes
which make up a much larger portion of the earth's near-surface environment
than those that form fossil fuels, which are limited to areas where
carbon-based life forms flourish, die, and are quickly buried. These fossil
fuel-forming environments occurred lengthily in the Carboniferous Period.
In contrast, resources
such as timber (when harvested sustainable) and wind (used to
power energy conversion systems) are considered renewable resources,
largely because their localized replenishment can occur within time frames
meaningful to humans.
Non-renewable assets
are:
· Fossil fuel
· Radioactive fuel
· Renewable resources
Natural resources such
as mine fuel, petroleum (crude oil) and mineral gas take thousands of years to form naturally and
cannot be replaced as fast as they are being consumed. Eventually it is
considered that fossil-based resources will become too costly to harvest and
humanity will need to shift its reliance to other sources of energy. These
resources are yet to be named.
An alternative
hypothesis is that carbon based fuel is virtually inexhaustible in human terms,
if one includes all sources of carbon-based energy such as methane hydrates on
the sea floor, which are vastly greater than all other carbon based fossil fuel
resources combined. These sources of carbon are also considered non-renewable,
although their rate of formation/replenishment on the sea floor is not known.
However their extraction at economically viable costs and rates has yet to be
determined.
At present, the main
energy source used by humans is non-renewable fossil fuels. Since the dawn
of internal combustion engine technologies in the 17th century,
petroleum and other fossil fuels have remained in continual demand. As a
result, conventional infrastructure and transport systems, which are fitted to combustion
engines, remain prominent throughout the globe. The continual use of fossil
fuels at the current rate is believed to increase global warming and
cause more severe climate change.
Renewable resources
Natural resources,
called renewable resources, are replaced by natural processes and
forces persistent in the natural environment. There
are intermittent and reoccurring renewable, and recyclable
materials, which are utilized during a cycle across a certain amount
of time, and can be harnessed for any number of cycles.
The production of goods
and services by manufacturing products in economic
systems creates many types of waste during production and after
the consumer has made use of it. The material is then incinerated, buried
in a landfill or recycled for reuse. Recycling turns
materials of value that would otherwise become waste into valuable resources
again.
The natural environment,
with soil, water, forests, plants and animals are
all renewable resources, as long as they are adequately monitored,
protected and conserved. Sustainable agriculture is the cultivation
of plant materials in a manner that preserves plant and animal ecosystems over the long term.
The over-fishing of the oceans is one example of where an industry
practice or method can threaten an ecosystem, endanger species and possibly even determine whether or not a fishery is sustainable for use by humans. An
unregulated industry practice or method can lead to complete resource
depletion.
The renewable energy
from the sun, wind, wave, biomass and geothermal energies
are based on renewable resources. Renewable resources such as the movement
of water (hydro-power, tidal power and wave
power), wind and radiant energy from geothermal heat (used
for geothermal power) and solar 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 sparingly.
The potential wave
energy on coastlines can provide 1/5 of world demand. Hydroelectric power can
supply 1/3 of our total energy global needs. Geothermal energy can provide 1.5
more times the energy we need. There is enough wind to power the planet 30
times over, wind power could power all of humanity's needs alone. Solar
currently supplies only 0.1% of our world energy needs, but there is enough out
there to power humanity's needs 4,000 times over, the entire global projected
energy demand by 2020.
Renewable energy
and energy efficiency are no longer niche sectors that are promoted only by governments and
environmentalists. The increasing levels of investment and that more of the
capital is from conventional financial actors, both suggest that sustainable
energy has become mainstream and the future of energy production, as
non-renewable resources decline. This is reinforced by climate
change concerns, nuclear dangers and accumulating radioactive
waste, high oil prices, peak oil and increasing government
support for renewable energy. These factors are commercializing renewable
energy, enlarging the market and growing demand, the adoption of new products
to replace obsolete technology and the conversion of existing infrastructure to
a renewable standard.
In economics, a
non-renewable resource is defined as goods, where greater consumption
today implies less consumption tomorrow. David Ricardo in his early
works analyzed the pricing of exhaustible resources, where he argued that the
price of a mineral resource should increase over time. He argued that the spot
price is always determined by the mine with the highest cost of extraction, and
mine owners with lower extraction costs benefit from a differential rent. The
first model is defined by Hotelling's rule, which is a 1931 economic model
of non-renewable resource management by Harold Ho telling. It
shows that efficient exploitation of a nonrenewable and non-augment able
resource would, under otherwise stable conditions, lead to a depletion of the resource. The rule states that this would lead to a
net price or "Ho telling rent" for it that rose annually at a rate
equal to the rate of interest, reflecting the increasing scarcity of the
resources. The Hart wick's rule provides an important result about
the sustainability of welfare in an economy that uses non-renewable
source.
However, nearly all
metal prices have been declining over time in inflation adjusted terms, because
of a number of false assumptions in the above. Firstly, metal resources are
non-renewable, but on a world scale, largely inexhaustible. This is because
they are present throughout the earth's crust on a vast scale, far exceeding
human demand on all time scales. Metal ores however, are only extracted in
those areas where nature has concentrated the metal in the crust to a level
whereby it is locally economic to extract. This also depends on the available
technology for both finding the metal ores as well as extracting them, which is
constantly changing. If the technology or demand changes, vast amounts of metal
previously ignored can become economically ex-tractable. This is why Ricardo's
simplistic notion that the price of a mineral resource should increase over
time has in fact turned out to be the opposite; nearly all metal ores have
decreased in inflation adjusted prices since well before the early 20th
century. The main reason he was wrong is that he assumed that metals are
exhaustible on a world scale, and he also misunderstood the effect of globally
competing markets; in human terms the amount of metal in the earth's crust is
essentially limitless. It is only in localized areas that metal ores can become
depleted, as these local areas compete with extraction costs of resources
elsewhere, which does have ramifications for the sustainability of local
economies.
A renewable resource is
a natural resource which can replenish with the passage of time,
either through biological reproduction or other naturally recurring processes.
Renewable resources are a part of Earth's natural
environment and the largest components of its ecosystem. A
positive life cycle assessment is a key indicator of a
resource's sustainability. In 1962, Paul Alfred Weiss defined
Renewable Resources as: "The total range of living organisms providing man
with food, fibers, drugs, etc..."
Renewable resources may
be the source of power for renewable energy. However, if the
rate at which the renewable resource is consumed exceeds its renewal rate,
renewal and sustainability will not be ensured.
The term renewable
resource also describes systems like sustainable
agriculture and water
resources. Sustainable harvesting
of renewable resources (i.e., maintaining a positive renewal rate) can
reduce air pollution, soil contamination, habitat
destruction and land degradation.
Gasoline, coal, natural
gas, diesel and other commodities derived from fossil fuels, as
well as minerals like copper and others, are non-renewable
resources without a sustainable yield.
Renewable resources
endangered by the industrial world
Overfishing
Atlantic cod stocks
severely over-fished leading to abrupt collapse
"Ocean over fishing
is simply the taking of wildlife from the sea at rates too high for fished
species to replace themselves."
Examples of over-fishing
exist in areas such as the North Sea of Europe, the Grand Banks of North
America and the East China Sea of Asia.
The decline
of penguin population is caused in part by over-fishing, caused by
human competition over the same renewable resources
Sustainable agriculture
The
phrase sustainable agriculture was coined by Australian agricultural
scientist Gordon Mc Claymont. It has been defined as "an integrated
system of plant and animal production practices having a site-specific
application that will last over the long term". Expansion of agricultural
land has an impact on biodiversity and contributes
to deforestation. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations estimates that in coming decades, cropland will continue to be
lost to industrial and urban development, along with reclamation of wetlands,
and conversion of forest to cultivation, resulting in the loss of biodiversity
and increased soil erosion.
Poly-culture
Although air and sunlight are
available everywhere on Earth, crops also depend on soil nutrients and the availability
of water. Mono culture is a method of growing only one crop at a
time in a given field, which can damage land and cause it to become either
unusable or suffer from reduced yields. Mono-culture can also cause the
build-up of pathogens and pests that target one specific species.
The Great Irish Famine (1845–1849) is a well-known example of the
dangers of mono culture.
Crop
rotation and long-term crop rotations confer the replenishment
of nitrogen through the use of green manure in sequence with cereals
and other crops, and can improve soil
structure and fertility by alternating deep-rooted and
shallow-rooted plants. Other methods to combat lost soil nutrients are
returning to natural cycles that annually flood cultivated lands (returning
lost nutrients indefinitely) such as the Flooding of the Nile, the
long-term use of bio char, and use of crop and livestock land races that
are adapted to less than ideal conditions such as pests, drought, or lack of
nutrients.
Agricultural practices
are the single greatest contributor to the global increase in soil
erosion rates. It is
estimated that "more than a thousand million tons of southern Africa's
soil are eroded every year. Experts predict that crop yields will be halved
within thirty to fifty years if erosion continues at present rates."
The Dust Bowl phenomenon in the 1930s was caused by severe drought combined with farming methods that did not
include crop rotation, fallow fields, cover
crops, soil terracing and
wind-breaking trees to prevent wind erosion.
The tillage of
agricultural lands is one of the primary contributing factors to erosion, due
to mechanized agricultural equipment that allows for deep plowing, which
severely increases the amount of soil that is available for transport by water
erosion. The phenomenon called
Peak Soil describes how large-scale factory farming techniques are jeopardizing
humanity's ability to grow food in the present and in the future. Without
efforts to improve soil management practices, the availability of arable
soil will become increasingly problematic.
Methods to combat
erosion include no-till farming, using a Keyline design,
growing wind
breaks to hold the soil,
and widespread use of compost. Chemical
fertilizer and pesticides can also have an effect of soil
erosion, which can contribute to soil salinity and prevent other
species from growing. Phosphate is a primary component in the
chemical fertilizer applied most commonly in modern agricultural production.
However, scientists estimate that rock phosphate reserves will be depleted in
50–100 years and that Peak Phosphate will occur in about 2030.
Industrial
processing and logistics also have an effect on agriculture's
sustainability. The way and locations crops are sold requires energy
for transportation, as well as the energy cost for materials, labor,
and transport. Foods sold at a local location, such a farmers’
market, have reduced energy overheads.
Deforestation
Deforestation is a good
example for renewable asset because woods procured from the forest can be
treated as an economic good as it has opportunity cost which is foregone to
next best desired alternatives. As well as being a renewable resource for fuel
and building material, trees protect the environment by absorbing carbon
dioxide and by creating oxygen. The destruction of rain forests is one of the
critical causes of climate
change. Deforestation causes
carbon dioxide to linger in the atmosphere. As carbon dioxide accrues, it
produces a layer in the atmosphere that traps radiation from the sun. The
radiation converts to heat which causes global
warming, which is better known
as the greenhouse effect. Deforestation also affects the water cycle. It
reduces the content of water in the soil and groundwater as well as atmospheric
moisture. Deforestation reduces soil cohesion, so that erosion, flooding
and landslides ensue. Rain forest shelter many species and organisms
providing local populations with food and other commodities. In this way
bio-fuels may well be unsustainable if their production contributes to
deforestation.
Endangered species
Some renewable
resources, species and organisms are facing a very high risk of extinction
caused by growing human population and over-consumption. It has been estimated
that over 40% of all living species on Earth are at risk of going extinct.[26] Many nations have laws to protect hunted
species and to restrict the practice of hunting. Other conservation method
includes restricting land development or creating preserves. The IUCN Red
List of Threatened Species is the best-known worldwide conservation status
listing and ranking system. Internationally, 199 countries have signed an
accord agreeing to create Biodiversity Action Plans to protect
endangered and other threatened species.
A natural wetland
There is no denying the
fact that water can be considered a
renewable material when carefully controlled usage, treatment, and release are
followed. If not, it would become a non-renewable resource at that location.
For example, groundwater is usually removed from an aquifer at a rate much greater than its very slow
natural recharge, and so groundwater is considered non-renewable. Removal of
water from the pore spaces may cause permanent compaction (subsidence) that
cannot be renewed. 97% of the water on the Earth is salt water, and 3%
is fresh water; slightly over two thirds of this is frozen
in glaciers and polar ice caps. The remaining unfrozen
freshwater is found mainly as groundwater, with only a small fraction (0,008%)
present above ground or in the air. Water pollution is one of the
main concerns regarding water resources. It is estimated that 22% of worldwide
water is used in industry. Major industrial users include hydroelectric
dams, photoelectric power plants, which use water for cooling, ore and oil refineries, which use water in chemical
processes, and manufacturing plants, which use water as a solvent.
Renewable energy
Renewable energy
is energy from natural resources such sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves and geothermal
heat. Common applications of renewable energies are electricity
generation and motor fuels. The reported problem with these renewable
resources is that it is difficult and expensive to harness enough power from
them to match the effectiveness of non-renewable resources.
Solar Energy
Solar energy is the most
abundant and easily available renewable resource, and has been harnessed by
humans since ancient times. The solar energy not used by man is used by
plants and other organisms in photosynthesis. In one year, the Sun
delivers more than 10,000 times the energy that humans currently use, and
almost twice the amount of energy that will ever be obtained from all of the
planet's non-renewable resources.
Solar power is the
conversion of sunlight into electricity, either directly using photo
voltaic indirectly using concentrated solar power. Concentrated solar
power systems use lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus a large area
of sunlight into a small beam. Photo voltaic convert light into electric current
using the photoelectric effect.
There are many domestic
applications of solar power including solar cookers, solar
stills, solar water heating, solar heating and air
conditioning.
A wind
farm in Spain.
Wind power is the
conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy. Most
modern electrical wind power is generated by converting the rotation
of turbine blades into electrical currents by means of
an electrical generator. Windmills provide mechanical power, and
were originally developed for milling grain for food production. The
basic technique adopted in the blades of windmill to facilitate proper rotation
is the pressure difference among the blades. Other industrial uses of windmill
machinery are wind pumps, used for water pumping or drainage.
Wind power is also used to propel ships using sails. Hydro
power is energy derived from the movement of water in rivers and oceans,
originally used for irrigation and the operation of various
mechanical devices. Since the early 20th century, the term is used almost
exclusively in conjunction with the modern development of hydro-electric
power. Conventional hydroelectric power involves creating a dam, and using
the resulting water force to turn a water turbine and generator.
Other electricity generating methods are run-of-the-river
hydroelectricity, which captures the kinetic energy in rivers or streams,
without the use of dams, and pumped-storage hydroelectricity, which stores
water pumped during periods of low demand to be released for generation when
demand is high.
Geothermal Energy
Geothermal energy comes
from the Earth's crust and originates from the original formation of the planet
(20%) and from radioactive decay of minerals. The available energy
from the Earth's crust and mantle is approximately equal to
that of incoming solar energy.
Geothermal
heating is the direct use of geothermal energy for heating
applications. Since Paleolithic times, naturally occurring Hot
springs have been used for bathing.
Geothermal
electricity is electricity generated from geothermal energy using
technologies like super heaters, flash steam power
plants and binary cycle power plants. The first geothermal power
station was built at Larderello, Italy. Other countries that have geothermal
power stations are Japan, Iceland, the Philippines and the United States. In
Iceland, geothermal energy is used for electricity and
heat. Brazil has bio ethanol made from sugarcane available
throughout the country. Shown a typical petroleum gas station
at Sao Paulo with dual fuel service, marked A for alcohol
(ethanol) and G for
gasoline.
Bio-fuel
A bio-fuel is a type
of fuel whose energy is derived from biological carbon fixation.
Bio-fuels include fuels derived from biomass conversion, as well
as solid biomass, liquid fuels and
various biogases. Bio-ethanol is an alcohol made
by fermentation, mostly from carbohydrates produced
in sugar or starch crops such
as corn, sugarcane or switch grass.
Bio-diesel is made
from vegetable oils and animal fats. Bio diesel is produced from
oils or fats using trans esterification and is the most common
bio-fuel in Europe.
Biogas is methane produced
by the process of anaerobic digestion of organic
material by anaerobes. etc. is also a renewable source of energy.
Renewable materials
Biomass
is biological material from living, or recently living organisms,
most often referring to plants or plant-derived materials. As a renewable
energy source, biomass can either be used directly, or indirectly—once or
converted into another type of energy product such as bio-fuel. The use of
biomass helps to sustain climate change, increase energy efficiency, and
decrease greenhouse gas emission.
Biomass is all
biologically produced matter based in carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. The
estimated biomass production in the world is 146 billion tons a year,
consisting of mostly wild plant growth. Biomass energy is derived from six
distinct energy sources: garbage, wood, plants, waste, landfill gases, and alcohol
fuels. Historically, a human have harnessed biomass derived energy since the
advent of burning wood to make fire, and wood remains the largest biomass
energy source today. The biomass used for electricity generation varies by
region. Forest by-products, such as wood residues, are common in
the United States. Agricultural waste is common in Mauritius (sugar cane residue) and Southeast
Asia (rice husks). Animal husbandry residues, such as poultry litter, are
common in the UK. The biomass power generating industry in the United
States, which consists of approximately 11,000 MW of summer operating
capacity actively supplying power to the grid, produces about 1.4 percent of
the U.S. electricity supply.
Bio-plastics
Bio plastics are a form
of plastics derived from renewable biomass sources, such
as vegetable fats and oils, corn
starch, pea starch or microbiol. The most
common starch. Other forms include Cellulose bio plastics,
bio polyester, Poly lactic acid, and bio-derived poly ethylene.
The production and use
of bio plastics is generally regarded as a more sustainable
activity when compared with plastic production from petroleum (petrol
plastic), however manufacturing of bio plastic materials is often still reliant
upon petroleum as an energy and materials source. Because of the fragmentation
in the market and ambiguous definitions it is difficult to describe the total
market size for bio plastics, but estimates put global production capacity at
327,000 tons. In contrast, global consumption of all flexible packaging is
estimated at around 12.3 million tons.
In view of the above it
is evident that bio blacktop is an asphalt alternative made from
non-petroleum based renewable resources. Manufacturing sources of bio asphalt
include sugar, molasses and rice, corn and potato starches,
and vegetable oil based waste. In view of the above, it is evident that
renewable and non-renewable assets are both vitally important in the sense that
these are economic goods and economic values are obtained from it. We are
getting oils and gases from the nature with which our industries are directly
dependent on it as renewable goods are no less important. We should
appoint our efforts and energy to procure and utilize these resources in a
significant manner.
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