Examples of Non-Renewable Natural Resources – Traffic jams at rush hour are commonplace. It seems we no longer feel strange with that sight. The number of motor vehicles has increased from year to year. If it’s like this, it’s as if the road is getting narrower and can never fit a number of vehicles.
What’s worrying about this condition? Besides inconvenience, pollution is definitely something that cannot be avoided. Moreover, try? Fuel use definitely increases. Even though fuel oil cannot be obtained within a year or two years.
It takes hundreds, thousands or millions of years for fuel to form. It’s sad that the longer the fuel runs out, even though fuel is one of the non-renewable natural resources.
What is a non-renewable natural resource? Let’s discuss it here.
Definition of Non-Renewable Natural Resources
Before discussing non-renewable natural resources, we must first understand what natural resources are?
Natural resources are anything that comes from nature that can be used to meet the needs of human life. Examples of natural resources are biotic components and abiotic components
Biotic components are components of living things such as animals, plants and microorganisms. Abiotic components are components that are not living things. The examples of abiotic components, such as petroleum, natural gas, various types of metals, water, and soil.
Well, while the natural resources are divided into two. There are renewable natural resources and non-renewable natural resources.
Let’s discuss it more deeply.
Renewable Natural Resources
Renewable natural resources are natural resources that are abundant in nature. We can easily obtain it because these natural resources can be readily available. As long as humans are wise in using it, these natural resources will always be available.
Examples of Renewable Natural Resources
Examples of renewable natural resources are:
1. Plants and animals
As long as agricultural land is still available and there are still many who want to process it, food is safe. Likewise animals, as long as there are still many breeders who want to survive with their livestock, the stock of meat will not disappear. We will still feel the pleasure of the piece of meat on the plate that mother cooked.
2. Water and air
Likewise air. As long as the air is not polluted, air can be a source of human life. However, if the air is unhealthy, besides bad breath, disease can also threaten.
Apart from plants and animals, water and air are also renewable natural resources. Nature provides abundance, as long as humans really take care of it.
Non-Renewable Natural Resources.
It is not impossible that this non-renewable natural resource will eventually run out. Even though our dependence on natural resources on this one is quite high, how about that? Examples of non-renewable natural resources are mining materials such as metals, petroleum, coal, fuel producers, and so on.
Nature of Non-Renewable Natural Resources
Non-renewable natural resources include:
- It takes a very long time to form again, usually hundreds or tens of years. If it runs out, humans cannot get it immediately. If you order a pre order or PO, I don’t know when
- The formation process depends on the surrounding environment. If the environment does not support it, it may not be able to form again.
- The formation process depends on the geological environment which cannot be arbitrary. There are certain terms and conditions, so if the ad says yes.
10 Examples of Non-Renewable Natural Resources
1. Minerals
The first example of a non-renewable natural resource is minerals. Mineral natural resources are natural resources derived from minerals in the soil and these minerals are very useful for human life.
This natural resource is included in one example of a non-renewable natural resource because it can only be used for a short time. In other words, there is a time limit, so it could run out at any time. Therefore, every human being must be able to use this natural resource wisely.
2. Gold
Gold or Aurum has the symbol Au. Gold is a metal commonly identified with wealth. It is said that only people with deep pockets hoard gold. The shiny appearance of gold can beautify jewelry and is loved by women. Besides being suitable for gold jewelry, it is also stored as an investment. The skyrocketing price makes gold suitable for making a profit.
Gold or aurum has physical properties that are soft, shiny, yellow and heavy. Gold is a metal that is soft and malleable. Gold is produced through a process of magmatism or concentration on the surface.
Some precipitates are formed from contact metasomatism and hydrothermal solutions, while mechanical concentration produces placer deposits .
Even though gold can be quite expensive, it can run out at one time. This is because gold is part of an example of non-renewable natural resources.
3. Iron
Iron is a metal that we often find. At home, on the street in buildings and other structures. Even iron plays an important role in the body of living things!
Iron along with molecular oxygen in hemoglobin and myoglobin; these two compounds are oxygen-carrying proteins for vertebrates or vertebrates.
Iron Facts:
- Iron has the symbol Fe which is taken from the Latin name ferum.
- Iron is the most common element found on earth by mass.
- Iron also forms a large part of the Earth’s outer and inner core.
- Iron is even the fourth largest element in the earth’s crust.
The abundant presence of iron is presumably due to the abundance of production due to fusion reactions in large-mass stars. As a result, radioactive nickel was the last element to be produced before the violent supernova collapse. The collapse scattered iron radionuclide precursors into space.
How terrible is that?
4. Aluminum
Aluminum is a metal that is no less popular than gold and iron. Aluminum is able to conduct electricity, so it is a good conductor of electricity. The nature of aluminum is also light and strong. Aluminum is a good conductor of heat as well.
Aluminum can be hammered into sheet, stretched into wire and extruded into bars of various cross-sections. Corrosion resistant aluminum.
Uniquely, aluminum is amphoteric or can be acidic or alkaline. Due to its fantastic nature, many products use aluminum. As in high voltage cables. It is also widely used in window frames and aircraft fuselage.
Want to find aluminum at home? It’s easy because in the kitchen we find it in a pot. It was also scattered outside the house, in soft drink bottles, milk bottle caps, etc. Aluminum is also used to cover car lights and compact discs.
5. Diamond
Diamond is a valuable mineral that chemically has a crystalline form, or allotrope, of carbon. Diamond is known for having special physical properties, especially its hardness and ability to disperse light.
Diamonds are from the bowels of the earth dug up. The mining process can be either manually or mechanized. Now even many diamond miners have used mechanization, namely with a vacuum machine to suck up the excavated soil. Because diamonds come from the bowels of the earth, so one day they may run out and humans can no longer use them. Therefore, diamonds are part of an example of a non-renewable natural resource.
6. Fossil Fuels
Until now, fossil fuels are still the prima donna in fuel consumption. Why is it called a fossil fuel, because this fuel comes from the weathering of fossils millions of years ago even when humans may not have existed. Fossil fuels can be said to provide many benefits as well as convenience for every human being in carrying out their daily activities.
So that fossil fuels don’t run out easily and humans can use them longer, every human being must use them wisely. That way, this example of a non-renewable natural resource, you can feel the benefits for much longer.
7. Petroleum
Petroleum was formed since time immemorial where the geological influence of living organisms that have been buried for millions of years with marine organisms called plankton.
The precipitate which continues to thicken under the influence of high temperature and pressure followed by biochemical activity eventually forms petroleum (oil). Crude oil is a mixture of various types of hydrocarbons with a little nitrogen, sulfur, with the largest components in petroleum, namely alkanes and cycloalkanes.
Separating crude oil into fuel through a multilevel distillation process, aka distillation. This petroleum consists of components that have different boiling points. In this way each component separates itself when its boiling point is reached.
Crude oil does provide many benefits for human life, but this natural resource has a time limit. In other words, oil is an example of a non-renewable natural resource.
8. Coal
The book entitled Encyclopedia of Coal by the tekMIRA Research and Development Center contains various origins of coal, exploration, mining, utilization, and the impact on the environment with the use of coal.
Coal is a sedimentary rock that can be burned, formed from organic deposits, mainly plant remains and formed through the process of coalification. The main elements are carbon, hydrogen and oxygen and coal is an example of non-renewable natural resources. Even so, as long as it is used properly, coal can last much longer.
Coal itself consists of various kinds, and based on existing data 60% of coal resources in Indonesia have a low calorific value and high water content which requires special handling in its utilization. In the book entitled Indonesian Coal Utilization Technology by the Research and Development Center, tekMIRA will explain how to use coal optimally and also be environmentally friendly.
The formation of coal cannot arbitrarily require certain conditions and only occur in certain eras throughout geological history.
The Carboniferous Age, the most prolific formation period, approximately 340 million years ago, was when nearly all of the northern hemisphere’s economic black coal deposits were formed.
Coal-forming materials include:
- Algae occur from the Pre-cambrian to Ordovician and are single-celled
- Silophytes existed from the Silurian to Middle Devonian times, and are descended from algae.
- Pteridophytes from Upper Devonian to Upper Carboniferous. The main material that forms coal is Carbon. Plants without flowers and seeds, reproduce by spores and grow in warm climates
- Gymnosperms span from the Permian to the Middle Cretaceous. Heterosexual plants, seeds encased in fruit, such as pine, contain high levels of resin (resin).
- Pteridosperms such as gangamopteris and glossopteris are the main constituents of coal
- Upper Cretaceous Angiosperms to the present. Modern plant species, seed-covered fruit, male and female in a single flower, are less gummy than gymnosperms and so, in general, are less viable.
The process of forming coal
The process of turning plant residues into peat to coal is called coalification.
Briefly there are 2 stages of the coal formation process, namely:
Diagenetic or Biochemical Stage
This stage begins when the plant material is deposited until lignite is finally formed. The main components that play a role in this process of change are water content, oxidation level and biological disturbances which can result in decomposition and compaction of organic material which also forms peat.
Metamorphic or Geochemical Stage
This stage includes the process of changing from lignite to bituminous and finally anthracite.
9. Radioactive/nuclear material
Radioactive material is material that can emit radioactive rays by itself. Radioactive rays such as alpha beta and gamma. Material with radioactive elements found in the environment, such as uranium, thorium, and plutonium and their decay products, such as radium and radon.
In the earth’s crust radioactive material is very low, the amount is abundant when humans carry out oil and gas mining activities. So, this radioactive material is present as industrial waste, but it can be used again. This radioactive material is useful in many fields such as medicine or agriculture.
However, on the other hand, this radioactivity cannot always be used by humans because this natural resource has a time limit, so it is categorized as an example of non-renewable natural resources.
10. Aquifer Water
The tenth example of a non-renewable natural resource is groundwater stored in aquifers. An aquifer is a layer in the ground that is capable of storing and allowing water to pass through. Aquifer layers have rock formations that can release large amounts of water. Water that comes out in large quantities then forms springs.
Benefits of Non-Renewable Natural Resources
Basically, non-renewable natural resources are definitely useful for human life, it’s just that the amount is limited. From the examples of non-renewable natural resources above, there are several benefits that can be felt by humans, such as gold, petroleum and coal.
Gold
1. Can be used as jewelry
2. As an economic commodity
Crude oil
1. As a fuel for transportation, such as motorbikes and cars
2. Can be used as a raw material for Steam Power Plants (PLTU)
3. Can be used to make asphalt
4. As a raw material for making candles
Coal
1. Can be used as a raw material for perfumery
2. Beneficial as a raw material for electricity generation
3. As a raw material for making paint
How To Preserve Non-Renewable Natural Resources
After discussing examples of non-renewable natural resources and their benefits, the next discussion is protecting non-renewable natural resources. As many people already know that this non-renewable natural resource will run out, so we need to keep it from running out in the near future.
1. Make vehicle fuel savings. This can be done by using public transportation more often when traveling
2. Use electricity wisely
3. Recycle any used items
4. Wise in using any non-renewable natural resources.
Eternal Resources
1. Solar energy
For countries with tropical climates, solar energy is abundant. Recent research continues to develop technologies that utilize sunlight. From stoves to motorized vehicles.
2. Geothermal
The bowels of the earth have geothermal heat. Geothermal energy is abundant. As a result, the price is economical and of course environmentally friendly.
Indonesia, which has many volcanoes, is a geothermal-rich country. Geothermal energy can be used to generate electricity.
Therefore, in utilizing this geothermal resource, it must first be studied more deeply so as to get a detailed description and conceptual model of the geothermal area.
3. Wind
This energy is so abundant. The Netherlands even makes full use of the power of this wind through its windmills. When the wind is connected to a generator, or turbine, electricity can be generated
4. Water
Water is an abundant resource on this earth. Most of our earth instead consists of water. Water has potential energy that can be utilized as a source of electricity
5. Biomass
This energy utilizes living plants, dead trees or wood chips
6. Natural gas
Natural gas is more economical than gas produced from petroleum.
7. Tidal energy
Sea tides certainly occur, and it turns out that it is capable of producing more energy than electricity, but it’s a shame it’s expensive
So many discussions about examples of non-renewable natural resources, hopefully this will be useful information and remind us to always use energy wisely. Have a good study!.