Natural Resources
Renewable Resources:
are ones that can be replaced in nature at a
rate close to their rate of use
Food
Oxygen
Sunlight
Trees
Non-renewable Resources
exist in a fixed amount or are used up much
faster than they can be replaced
Metals
Petroleum
Natural gas
Non metals
Coal
Sand and gravel
salt
Supply vs. Demand
• US has many resources but also great
demand
• Average US citizen uses 40,000 pounds of
minerals every year!
• Experts estimate most of the US mineral
resources will be gone in < 60 years
Our Most Important Resource:
Energy
FOSSIL FUELS:
Made from the remains of organisms (plants
and animals) that lived millions of years
ago
NON renewable
Earth at
night as
seen from
space
COAL
• Made from burial of plant remains in
swamps
• Abundant and inexpensive
• Most of our electric power comes from
burning coal
• The MOST polluting of all the fossil fuels
COAL
Petroleum & Natural Gas
• Formed from decay of shallow marine
organisms trapped in ocean sediments
• Expensive to pump out of ground
• Most remaining reserves are in Saudi
Arabia/ Middle East
• Used as heating and transportation fuel
Petroleum & Natural Gas
Uranium
• Used in nuclear power plants to make
inexpensive electricity
• Small amount needed:
1 g Uranium = 3 tons coal = 14 barrels oil
• Dangerous radioactive wastes
• Vulnerable to large scale accidents,
terrorist attacks
RENEWABLE ENERGY
Hydroelectric
Tidal Electric
WIND
Solar Energy
GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
Environmental Issues and the Use
of Natural Resources
Mining
Destruction of
surface and soil
takes decades
to recover
Environmental Issues and the Use
of Natural Resources
Mining
Mine drainage
is toxic, poisons
rivers and lakes
and groundwater
downstream
Water pollution from coal mine
Environmental Issues and the Use
of Natural Resources
Nuclear Power
Radioactive waste
make take
hundreds of years
to decay
Accidents!
Environmental Issues and the Use
of Natural Resources
Fossil Fuels
Air Pollution
(Smog)
Acid Rain
Global Warming
• Carbon Dioxide CO2 is not a pollutant or a
poisonous gas
• It is made when all types of fossil fuels are
burned
• It traps heat in the atmosphere (the
Greenhouse Effect)
• Man-made CO2 is causing global warming
Sources of Carbon Dioxide
Results of Global Warming
Results of Global Warming
Global Temperatures since 1884
Conservation: Energy Efficiency
High Mileage and
Hybrid cars
Electric cars
Use Renewable Energy Resources
Solar Car
RECYCLE and REUSE