Which of the following is NOT an example of a potentially renewable or nondepletable energy source

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Energy Resources

We use energy in all aspects of our daily lives: heating and cooling, cooking, lighting, communications and travel.  in these activities, humans convert stored energy resources such as natural gas and oil into useful forms of energy such as motion, heat and electricity, with varying degrees of efficiency and environmental effects.  Each energy choice we make has both positive and negative consequences.  In a society like the United States, where each person averages 10,000 watts of energy use continuously--24 hour per day, 365 days a per year--there are a lot of consequences to understand and evaluate.

Nonrenewable Resources

Nonrenewable energy sources are those that exist in a fixed amount and involve energy transformation that cannot be easily replaced.  Fossil fuels are fuels derived from biological material that became fossilized millions of years ago.  Fuels from this source provide most of the energy used in both developed and developing countries.  The vast majority of the fossil fuels we use--coal, oil and natural gas--come from deposits of organic matter that were formed 50 million to 350 million years ago.  When organisms die, decomposers break down most of the dead biomass aerobically, and it quickly reenters the food web.  However, in an anaerobic environment--for example in places such as swamps, river deltas and the ocean floor--a large amount of detritus may build up quickly.  Under these conditions, decomposers cannot break down all of the detritus.  As this material is buried under succeeding layers of sediment and exposed to heat and pressure, the organic compounds within it are chemically transformed into high-energy solid, liquid and gaseous components that are easily combusted.  Because fossil fuel cannot be replenished once it is used up, it is known as a nonrenewable energy resource.  Nuclear fuel, derived from radioactive materials that give off energy, is another major source of nonrenewable energy on which we depend.  The supply of this fuel is finite, although at current rates of consumption it will last for a very long time.
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Renewable Resources

Renewable energy sources are those that can be replenished naturally, at or near the rate of consumption.  Renewable energy is either potentially renewable or nondepletable.

As fossil fuels become less available and more expensive, what will take their place?  Probably it will be a mix of energy efficiency strategies, energy conservation and new energy sources.  Fossil fuels constitute an energy reservoir we are depleting much faster than it can ever be replenished.  Similarly, we have a finite amount of uranium ore available to use a a fuel in nuclear reactors.

In contrast, some other sources of energy can be regenerated rapidly.  Biomass energy resources are potentially renewable because those resources can be regenerated indefinitely as long as we do not consume them more quickly than they can be replenished.  There are still other energy resources that cannot be depleted no matter how much we use them.  Solar, wind, geothermal, hydroelectric and tidal energy are essentially nondepletable in the span of human time; no matter how much we use, there will always be more.  The amount of nondepletable resource available tomorrow does not depend on how much we use today.  Potentially renewable and nondepletable energy sources together are referred to as renewable energy resources.

Many renewable energy resources have been used by humans for thousands of years.  In fact, before humans began using fossil fuels, the only available energy sources were wood and plants, animal manure, and fish or animal oils.  Today, in parts of the developing world where there is little access to fossil fuels, people still rely on local biomass energy sources such as manure and wood for cooking and heating--sometimes to such an extent that they overuse the resource.  For example, according to the International Energy Agency, biomass is currently the source of 65% of the energy consumed in sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa) and much of it is not harvested sustainably.

Renewable energy resources account for approximately 14% of the energy used worldwide, most of which is in the form of biomass.  In the United States, which depends heavily on fossil fuels, renewable energy resources provide only about 10 % of the energy used.  That 10% comes primarily from biomass, hydroelectricity and wind.  In 2016, renewables provided 44% of the EU’s electricity capacity and 15% of its final energy consumption.

Distribution of Natural Energy Resources

​The global distribution of natural energy resources, such as ores, coal, crude oil, and gas, is not uniform and depends on regions' geologic history.

Most natural resources, including fossil fuels, are not distributed evenly around the Earth. Deposits of fossil fuels depend on the climate and organisms that lived in that region millions of years ago, and the geological processes that have since taken place. For instance, while coal reserves are found in every country, the largest reserves are found in the United States, Russia, China, Australia, and India. Millions of years ago, these areas were lush, swamp forests with many trees that provided the organic material to make coal.

Oil and natural gas are also found worldwide, but most of the oil and natural gas reserves are in Saudi Arabia, Russia, the United States, and Iran. Within the United States, most oil is found in Texas, Alaska, California, North Dakota, and Oklahoma. Despite this, the United States uses more oil than it produces—more than any other country in the world in fact—and so it must import oil from other counties, including Canada, Saudi Arabia, and Mexico.

Most countries that have large deposits of fossil fuels have economies that depend on extracting the fossil fuels. The economic benefits of these resources include jobs for extracting and transporting the resources as well as money from selling the fossil fuels. Additionally, countries with plentiful natural resources may not need to spend as much money importing fossil fuels and can instead put that money toward other goals. Some countries do not have the resources to extract their own fossil fuels, so they depend on international companies to do the work. In this case, the country gains some economic benefits but most of the benefits go to the company that does the work. Unfortunately, countries without access to fossil fuels, or the means to obtain them, are often left lagging behind other countries, which are able to progress and flourish.

​The map below shows the amount of oil available in different countries.

​The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is responsible for 40% of the world’s oil production. The organization was founded in Baghdad in 1960. There are currently 12 member countries, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Venezuela and Nigeria. World oil production is partially decided by these countries, limiting how many barrels can be produced per day. Many countries outside OPEC are major oil producers, notably the USA, Russia and China. Production outside the world’s traditional oil-rich nations has increased rapidly during the past few years, rising to nearly half of total global output. However the top ten oil producing countries still accounted for nearly 56 per cent of the world’s oil production, as the table below shows.

Increasing production in the USA

The figure for the USA is lower than normal due to the closure of a pipeline in Alaska. Generally the USA is now the world’s biggest oil producer, pumping over 11 million barrels per day. It has also been the world’s biggest producer of natural gas since 2010.  This increase in production is due to new drilling techniques, such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, 'fracking', which have unlocked vast quantities of oil and gas from shale rock formations, especially in North Dakota and Texas. Russian industry has lagged behind the USA in its embrace of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing to exploit its oil and gas reserves.

Coal provides around 30% of global primary energy needs, generates 41% of the world's electricity and is used in the production of 70 per cent of the world's steel.
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The graph shows coal production per million of tonnes in different countries.

Global natural gas production has increased at an annual rate of 5.3% since 2000, while crude oil’s comparable growth rate has been 1.0%. Gas has a 21% share in the global primary energy mix, behind oil and coal.

Which of the following is not an example of renewable energy source?

Which of the following is not an example of potentially renewable or nonrenewable energy source?

What are the 4 examples of renewable energy?

What are examples of potentially renewable resources?