Waves form when the wind blows over large surface of water. You can find more information in How Does Hydroelectricity Work. It can be generated for as long as river water keeps flowing and any water spent in the process is always recycled back to produce more electricity. Perhaps it cannot be classified based on renewability at all, and should stand on its own as a nice example of nature’s great complexity.Īlthough, one thing is sure – the energy of moving water is a renewable source of energy for us. The fact that water does not replenish in the same way as other renewable resources do, makes scientists argue whether it belongs into this category or not. ![]() This means, if water becomes contaminated with toxic chemicals, or if it was misused for excessive irrigation projects, we are shortening the amount available for us. We cannot make more water than there already is, and the amount we have is very limited. Sounds wonderful, right? But it’s not that simple. Water simply does not disappear, neither can be exhausted by us – it always completes a cycle to return in one form or other. This means that the water running from your tap today might have been drunk by a dinosaur some 200 million years ago. Throughout the earth’s history, we have always had the same amount of water. Life without it would not be possible at all. Water is one of the most important resources on our planet. ![]() In areas with geothermal potential, we can easily make use of this renewable source of energy for as long as the earth’s core stays hot. The potential to harvest this naturally generated energy is large, especially in areas where the heat can easily reach the surface, like at tectonic plate boundaries, or where the earth’s crust is thinner.įor example, the magma chamber of the supervolcano under the Yellowstone National Park releases the same amount of heat into the atmosphere every day, like six industrial power plants produce to generate electricity. Once it reaches the surface, we can witness this proof of geothermal activity in the form of hot springs, geysers, volcanic lava flows, or steam vents. ![]() This phenomenon is also referred to as geothermal activity. This heat is constantly radiating outward, making its way through the outer core all the way to the earth’s surface. The temperature of the earth’s inner core is 5,430 degrees Celsius and it is the hottest part of our planet. This means that we can use wind as a source of energy for as long as the sun is shining on our planet, without having to worry about overconsuming this resource. The different pressures are created in response to changing temperature of the earth surface, which is affected by the amount of sunshine the area receives. In principle, wind is just air that moves from high pressure to low pressure areas. But it has never crossed anyone’s mind that we would run out of wind. No one has really paid special attention to it – some days wind was blowing, some days not. Wind pushed our sailboats, and helped mills to grind grains or pump water. Wind energy was amongst the first resources harvested by us to improve our livelihoods. Let’s have a look at some examples of renewable and non-renewable resources to get a better understanding of this concept. This means that their stocks are getting depleted before they can replenish naturally. In contrast, non-renewable resources are those that are available to us in limited quantities, or those that are renewed so slowly that the rate at which they are consumed is too fast. The use of these resources corresponds with the principles of sustainability, because the rate at which we are consuming them does not affect their availability in the long term. Renewable resources are resources that are replenished naturally in the course of time. So, what exactly are renewable and nonrenewable resources? Our planet’s finite resources and the rate at which we are depleting them has led to a lot of debate about the efficient use of our planet’s natural wealth, as well as the type of resources that we should prefer in order to minimize the impact we are having on our planet.Ī key distinction in terms of the resources that are at our disposal is whether they are renewable or non-renewable. ![]() What Is the difference between renewable and non-renewable resources? All resources and ecosystem services we had used in the remaining four months of the last year collectively add to the debt. For example, in 2017, the demand for natural resources exceeded what our ecosystems can regenerate on August 2nd. We are depleting our planet so much that we have started tracking when this “overshoot” takes place. There can be no ‘plan B’ because there is no ‘planet B. We are using resources as if we had two planets, not one.
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