Renewable vs Nonrenewable resources.
What is the difference between renewable and nonrenewable resources?
The natural resources available for human use can be classified mainly into two groups – Renewable and Nonrenewable. In this post I have explained the major difference between renewable and nonrenewable resources for better understanding while choosing the right energy sources for human consumption.
Before we go to discuss in detail the key points of difference between renewable vs nonrenewable resources let’s first look into what are renewable and nonrenewable resources.
What are renewable and nonrenewable resources?
Renewable resources definition
What does renewable resource mean? Renewable resource is a term that speaks for itself. It refers to the sources which are provided by the nature and are replenished naturally. These sources are naturally replenished within a reasonable length of time on a human timescale at a faster rate than they are consumed i.e. using these resources today will not diminish their availability tomorrow. For all practical purposes the renewable energy resources are virtually inexhaustible.
Nonrenewable resources definition
Nonrenewable energy resources are finite resources that come out of the earth in the form of liquids, gases and solids. These resources are called nonrenewable because they are not replenished naturally at a quick enough pace to keep up with their human consumption. Their formation typically takes millions of years. These resources would, therefore, eventually run out one day if they are continually extracted and used by us.
In short, from a human use perspective, a resource is classified as renewable so long as the rate of its natural replenishment exceeds that of the rate of consumption. On the other hand a resource is categorized as nonrenewable when the rate of its consumption exceeds the rate of replenishment.
Renewable and nonrenewable resources examples
Renewable examples
The sunlight, wind, water, various forms of biomass, geothermal heat are some of the familiar renewable energy sources examples, which are a naturally occurring phenomenon and are practically limitless in supply.
Nonrenewable examples
Some of the common nonrenewable energy sources examples are coal, crude oil and natural gas.
What is the difference between renewable and nonrenewable resources?
Renewable vs Nonrenewable resources:
1.Renewable resources are virtually inexhaustible whereas nonrenewable resources are finite which come out of the earth as liquids, gases and solids;
2. Renewable resources, which are practically limitless in supply, can be used over and over again as they are replenished naturally in a short period.
Whereas nonrenewable resources cannot be used again and again as it would eventually run out one day since their formation typically takes millions of years;
3. Renewable resources are environment friendly and pollution free. Unlike nonrenewable energy sources, renewable energy sources are not burnt and they do not release pollutants into the atmosphere.
Nonrenewable resources on the other hand emit high carbon when we use them and hence are not environment friendly;
4. There are little or no greenhouse gas emissions associated with renewable resources.
Whereas nonrenewable resources typically emit greenhouse gasses which causes Global warming;
5. Though use of renewable energy resources involve high investment, when accounting for the true costs of power, most renewable energy sources are actually significantly cheaper in the long-run as compared to nonrenewable resource based fuels;
6. Renewable energy sources like solar and wind require large land area for producing electricity as compared to the power generating plants run by nonrenewable resource based fuels (oil, coal, and natural gas);
7. Renewable sources like solar and wind cannot provide continuous supply of power due to their irregular nature of availability.
Whereas uninterrupted supply of energy is possible by nonrenewable resource based fuels like coal, oil and natural gas;
8. Renewable energy sources like wind and geothermal are available in selected geographical region whereas nonrenewable energy resources are normally available everywhere;
You may also like to read this related post: Advantages of Renewable energy over fossil fuels
Conclusion
Now that I have explained what is the difference between renewable and nonrenewable resources, it is felt that one vital point needs our serious consideration.
It is evident that the naturally occurring nonrenewable energy resources like coal, oil, natural gas and more, which are limited in supply, are going to exhaust eventually as they cannot renew naturally at a quick enough pace to keep up with their human consumption. Hence, by reducing our consumption of these finite resources we could create a world not relying solely on renewable resources, which alone cannot meet the global energy needs of today.
Therefore, to reduce the rate of depletion of the nonrenewable resources our endeavour should be to create ways for switching over to renewable energy so that we can use solar, wind, and water power, which will never run out, to the maximum extent possible. As renewables may not provide the required amount of energy in full to meet global demand we would continue to require nonrenewable fuels as backup.
