The article discusses the difference between renewable and non-renewable resources, and how the exploitation of non-renewable resources can lead to unfair trade practices and wars. Renewable resources can become non-renewable if they are harvested too quickly, but safeguards can be implemented to prevent this. Non-renewable resources, such as coal and oil, will eventually run out. Technology can make previously non-renewable resources renewable, and conservation acts can slow down depletion.
The concepts of renewable and non-renewable resources are often tossed around in the modern world. Some say that society’s dependence on non-renewable resources is the reason for the exploitation of workers, many unfair trade practices and even wars. Other people cite society’s use of non-renewable resources as one of the only ways many technological advances have been achieved so rapidly. But to truly understand these topics, we must first understand the difference between renewable and non-renewable resources.
Renewable resources are all desirable naturally occurring elements that can be replenished naturally over a useful period of time. That length of time is generally considered to be roughly the same out-of-stock rate. Useful items can be things like trees for lumber, water for drinking, or fish for food, as long as they are replenished as quickly as they are taken.
But renewable resources do not necessarily remain renewable. If the rate at which the renewable resource is harvested is far greater than the rate at which it is renewed, the once-renewable resource begins to deplete. A resource that runs out may never be replenished and would therefore become a non-renewable resource. Fish are an example of this. In some areas, the number of fish has been so reduced due to over-catch and pollution that they no longer live in countable numbers. In those specific areas, fish is no longer a renewable resource.
Many safeguards can be implemented to ensure that a renewable resource does not run out. Good management practices can be used so that too much renewable resource is not taken at the wrong time. You can determine the sustainable yield of a specific natural resource and agree on harvest limits based on that number. Programs can be made that help restore renewable resources such as replanting harvested trees. Modern technology can also be used to protect the natural resource from factors that could limit it, such as pollution or drought.
Non-renewable resources are desirable elements found in nature that cannot be replenished in a useful period of time. Coal and oil are arguably the two most important non-renewable resources. It can take millions of years and extremely rare conditions for these fossil fuels to be produced in nature, so they cannot be considered renewable. Fossil fuels, however, are easily transformed into energy and heat with society’s current level of technology, so they are harvested far beyond their sustainable yield.
The biggest difference between renewable and non-renewable resources is that, eventually, non-renewable resources will run out. It may take decades, but ultimately, there will be no fossil fuels left on earth if they continue to be consumed at the current rate. Renewable resources could be used to replace them, but there are no current renewable resources at society’s current level of technology that provide the same level of usable energy or heat as non-renewable resources.
Technology can further blur the line between renewable and non-renewable resources. It is possible for technology to make a previously non-renewable resource renewable; it can also slow down or increase the rate of use of a resource. For example, scientists are currently investigating ways to use kelp reservoirs to produce oil, meaning that in the distant future it may be possible to consider oil a renewable resource if enough technological advances occur. The fish are now raised on farms, with the hope that they can be harvested at levels that meet demand but do not endanger natural species. Conservation acts and technological advances allow society to use fewer specific resources so as to slow down depletion.
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