What exactly are renewable and nonrenewable resources? Although many people love to talk about these resources, they don’t take the time to explain them.
Read on if you want to understand the differences between renewable and nonrenewable energy resources. This article comprehensively overviews the two terms, explains how they relate to climate change, and discusses new technologies.
What are renewable and non-renewable?
Though there are nine significant areas of energy, they fall into two categories: renewables and nonrenewables.
Renewable
Simply put, a renewable resource means we have unlimited access to it. This is because it constantly replenishes itself and comes from natural elements, like plants, sun, wind, and water.
No matter how much humans use renewable energy, there will always be more. As a result, we don’t have to worry about renewable resources running out soon.
Often, renewables are viewed as alternative energy sources, but they generate electricity and have a smaller carbon footprint.
Nonrenewable
Conversely, nonrenewable resources do not replenish themselves and have a limited supply. Therefore, once the resource is used, you cannot use it again.
Most often, nonrenewable resources refer to fossil fuels. However, fossil fuels take millions of years to create and do not provide an infinite or sustainable answer to human energy usage.
Some of the most common fossil fuels include natural gas, coal nuclear energy. But, unfortunately, you can only use them for relatively short periods before they are gone.
What is the difference between renewable and non-renewable resources?
Now that we know precisely what renewable and nonrenewable resource are, let’s look at their differences. The most important differences between these two resource types include production, available amount, and environmental footprint.
How it is produced
Something we touched on above is how renewable and nonrenewable resources are produced.
On the one hand, renewable resources use natural resources to produce usable energy and electricity. But on the other hand, it does not take thousands or millions of years to produce but is constantly produced because of the nature of our world.
On the other hand, nonrenewable resources rely on fossil fuels. Fossil fuel includes materials like oil and gas.
Fossil fuel originally comes from natural resources too, but they require a long time to form since they need a hyper-pressurized environment to become a form of usable energy.
Amount available
Because of how renewable and non-renewable resources are produced, the amount available differs between them.
Importantly, renewable resources come with an infinite amount. Since they are constantly replenished, we will never run out of renewable resources, no matter how much energy we consume.
Nonrenewable energy only has a finite amount. So as soon as we use up all of our resources, they will be gone.
The fact that nonrenewable energy sources only have a finite amount is straightforward to understand. Take the natural gas you put in your car as an example.
Your car is ready to roll as soon as you fill up your gas tank. However, your car will stop functioning and moving once it runs out of gas, and you will have to fill up the tank again.
Gas usage in your vehicle is just a small example. You can apply this example to a bigger scale, such as the entire gas collection: once the gas is gone, it is gone.
Environmental and carbon footprint
Renewable and nonrenewable energy is discussed in global warming because the two resources have very different environmental footprints.
Renewable sources lead to clean energy, making them better for future generations. You don’t have to burn materials and send carbon dioxide into the atmosphere to use clean energy.
The same cannot be said of nonrenewable energy sources. Gas and oil must be burned, which attributes to climate change. That does not even include oil spills, pollution, or other tangible side effects.
Hence, the environmental impact of nonrenewables is much worse than renewables.
What is the difference between renewable and nonrenewable resources, with examples?
If you are still confused about the differences between renewable and nonrenewable energy, let’s look at a few examples. Examples can help clarify any remaining questions or confusion about the topic.
Renewable energy resources example
There are tons of renewable resources available that replenish naturally. Significant renewable energy resources include the following:
- Wind energy
- Solar (sun)
- Hydropower
- Hydrogen
- Tidal
- Geothermal energy
- Biomass
The easiest to understand is solar power. New technology produces electricity through sunlight, which is replenished naturally.
Since the sun shines every day, solar energy is constantly replenished. So no matter how many solar panels are created and used on the planet, the sun will always produce energy to use.
Of course, it is thanks to technology that we can turn solar power into usable energy.
As you know, putting your phone on the ground outside will not cause it to charge. However, you can add a solar system to your home that converts that energy into usable energy that you can use to charge your phone.
The other renewable resources work in the same way. For example, wind energy production is created by wind turbines!
Nonrenewable energy resources example
Let’s look at non-renewable resources, which are only available in limited supplies. Some examples of non-renewable energy include:
- Coal
- Crude oil
- Natural gas
- Nuclear energy
Although the gas example above demonstrates this form of energy, let’s look at a more prominent picture example using coal. First, remember that coal applies to natural gas, crude oil, and other fossil fuel.
Big picture example
Although few people burn coal in their houses, it is still considered a widespread form of energy. So even if you have never seen coal, you probably have an accurate understanding of how it works.
Coal is burned to produce usable energy. Once the resource has been burned, more has to be shoveled into the furnace to keep the energy going.
Let’sLet’sider this on a larger scale. Just as one chunk of coal is not renewable, neither is the entire world’s coal collection.
As the world continues to use coal to fund usable electricity, that coal amount decreases daily. Eventually, there will be no coal left since there are only fixed amounts.
The other forms of non-renewable energy work the same way, but they all have different reduction rates. Nuclear energy, for example, can support much more energy and lasts longer than the other forms, but it is still nonrenewable.
What is the difference between renewable and non-renewable resources in class 8?
To know the differences between renewable and nonrenewable resources class 8, you need to know that renewable resources are constantly renewed, whereas nonrenewable energy is not.
Furthermore, know which resources classify as renewable and which classify as nonrenewable. You can use our lists above for help.
For example, wind technologies classify as renewable, whereas oil does not!
Conclusion
In short, renewable energy is produced by the universe and is constantly replenished. However, nonrenewable resources take longer to create, so only a finite amount is available.
Though switching to more renewable energy sources will not save the climate crisis, its growing popularity may eventually cause big corporations to take a more sustainable approach.
Hopefully, society and human activity will think more about the environment and plants to save the best resource of all – our home planet.
