Sustainable Development #8 Energy Resources

Man needs resources daily for comfort and also to meet end needs, how ever these resources are spatially and unevenly distributed on the planet. Some resource are finite and can be exhausted, while others can be replenished. However the ever increasing population needs resources but most of these resources are finite and have consequences if they are over exploited.

A resource is any physical material constituting part of Earth that people need and value. Natural materials become resources when humans value them.

Energy consumption by man have grown steadily over the past 200 years with most of the supply coming from non-renewable sources such as natural gas and coal.

Energy is the capacity to do work and is required for life processes. An energy resource is something that can produce heat, power life, move objects, or produce electricity.

Credit.

In natural sciences, energy resources can be classified in various ways;

• we have the finite and infinte energy resources.
• potential and actual energy resource
• and lastly we have the renewable and non-renewable resource.

Renewable and Non-Renewable Energy Resources
Renewable energy resources are resources that can be replenished and are not depleted by our consumption. Examples of renewable energy resources are;

• Wind energy
• Solar energy
• Hydro energy
• Geothermal energy
• Biomass

Non-Renewable energy resources are resources which have take millions of years to form geologically and we are using this resources faster than they can be naturally replenished. Examples of renewable resources are;

• Coal
• Natural gas
• Petroleum
• Uranium
  In my next post i will be writing on sustainable energy.

Reference
National Geographic
http://www.tulane.edu/~sanelson/eens1110/energy.htm