What is a Natural Resource?

 A natural resource is a raw material that we use to produce energy. It can be water, petrol, sand, metal, soil, or even wind. Items like sheet metal, plastic, fabrics, and concrete are not natural resources. But they are manufactured from natural resources. In a nutshell, natural resources are the things created by nature.

Natural Resources Type

Natural resources can be categorised into 2 boxes:

• renewable resources (perpetual and intermediate)
• non-renewable resources

Perpetual Renewable Resources

Perpetual renewable resources are the things that can be constantly replenished by nature. For example: 

• The sun can produce tons of energy every day. We call this solar energy.
• Earth can produce geothermal energy.

Both of those types of energy currently supply a significant amount of electrical grids around the world. And they will not be depleted until far away in the future, no matter how much we use them.

Intermediate Renewable Resources

Intermediate renewable resources is a bit different from perpetual one. It can only be renewable if consume in moderation. So not too fast, or it will become non-renewable quick. Good examples of it are soil, timber from trees, and water.

They require time to regenerate or renew. If we overuse them, then they go bye-bye.

Water can be recycled. It has a natural cycle of renewing itself. If our rate of using it is the same as recharging it, then we will be fine.

This type of natural resource must be carefully managed to ensure they are not run out.

Non-renewable Resources

This type of resource commonly doesn't regenerate fast enough. Once they are depleted, they are gone from the earth.

For example, fossil fuels. The creation process of fossil fuels will take millions of years. It can take a number of forms like natural gas, coal, uranium and cruel oil.

Other examples of non-renewable resources are metals and lithium (for batteries). In the far future, we may lose them as natural resources.

With careful natural resources management, we can use them in a moderate way.