Examples of non-renewable resources consist of most of the fossil fuels, and Nuclear energy - Uranium. These resources are little on the Earth, and have been used up much faster than they have been replaced.
Most non-renewable resources (non-renewables) begin as some form of plant life. The plants range from grasses to trees. You could visualize a swamp full of lush vegetation where the plants died and built up over time in an anaerobic (minus oxygen) environment. Then this pile of dead material was buried under successive waves of sedimentation. After more burial and some millions of years, the heat and pressure moderately squeezed the material into a dense high energy state. Natural gasses were a by-product of the decomposition. The resulting carbon based fuels are often termed hydrocarbons.
Alternative Energy
Examples consist of but are not little to:
Peat - A low grade fuel. Technically peat is renewable, but on a time scale of many human generations. Peat is the first step in the non-renewable chain. Peat can form in bogs inside of a few thousand years. It grades from a watery low energy substance to a dense high energy fuel.
Coal- After burial under sediment, more time, heat and pressure the organic material in our previous swamp gets compressed to the well known substance called coal. Like peat, coal comes in energy densities from the low energy light brown Lignite to the high density carbon black Anthracite variety. Finally, coal may be compressed to a pure carbon mineral called Graphite.
Oil - A similar organic blend is produced when time, pressure, heat, and stockroom conditions are present. The blend created is petroleum. Petroleum requires porous and permeable rocks in which to accumulate. Oil takes millions of years to form. Oil contains a very high energy density and is a remarkable and very movable form of power. Oil produces harmful
Natural Gas - Natural gas has a similar synthesis to oil, and is often found in conjunction, though not always, with oil. Natural gas reserves are still large though sometimes difficult to furnish and efficiently transport.
Tar Sands and Oil Shale - These are basically rocks storing both mature oil, and a oil like form of lower energy called Kerogen. Extracting oil and Kerogen from oil shales and tar sands is energy intensive, uses a lot of water, and produces a lot of waste material. Dismissal is only economic at higher oil prices. North America for example contains larger reserves of oil in shale and tar sands than Saudi Arabia has oil reserves, period.
Next is a reserved supply that you may not think of as non-renewable. However, since it is little in quantity on Earth, and can not be supplanted swiftly or easily, it is thought about a non-renewable resource.
Uranium is tasteless in nature, and there are 3 uranium isotopes: uranium-234, uranium-235 and Uranium-238. Uranium-238 (U-238) is the most tasteless (99%) isotope of uranium. U-238 can be can be converted into plutonium-239, a fissionable material that can retain a controlled nuclear reaction. This is what nuclear power plants use to originate electricity.
Although Uranium is ubiquitous, economic deposits of U-238 ore are quite limited. Australia has the largest reserves, followed by Kazakhstan, and Canada. Much has already been mined in the Usa. It is estimated that almost 100 years are left at present use rates.
Examples of Non-Renewable Resources
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