Unlike renewable energy, non-renewable energy sources will eventually run out and cannot be replenished. This situation requires an evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages of non-renewable energy and its vision for the future.
What is Nonrenewable energy?
In simplest terms, nonrenewable energy is defined as energy that can be drawn from resources that will run out in the near future or will not be replaced during one’s lifetime or even many lifetimes.
Most of the nonrenewable energy sources include fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas. The nonrenewable energy sources contain carbon as the main element. This is why the fossil fuel period is termed as “Carboniferous Period,” which spans roughly 360 to 300 million years ago.
Fossil fuels are said to have formed in the past Hundreds of millions of years during the evolution of dinosaurs. Earth is said to have had a different look before the dinosaurs. It was covered with wide and shallow seas and swampy forests.
An ancient wetland that is home to plants, algae, and plankton exists. These organisms used to absorb sunlight and create energy through photosynthesis. Once these organisms died, they sunk to the bottom of the sea or lake. These plants and animals had energy stored within them when they died.
Dead sea plants were pressed over time. Later, their sediment was buried by rocks, which led to extreme internal heat and pressure. In these conditions, the remains of plants and animals are transformed into fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas, and petroleum. Currently, these fossil fuels are located in nonrenewable energy reservoirs that span across the globe.
Types Of Nonrenewable Resources
There are four major types of nonrenewable resources: oil, natural gas, coal, and nuclear energy.
- Oil is a liquid fossil fuel, mostly used in gas-powered vehicles, and to manufacture plastics. It is located in crude form, deep beneath the Earth’s surface, and is obtained using drilling wells.
- Natural gas is an energy resource used mainly for heating and cooking. It is predominantly made up of methane and is located in the vicinity of oil deposits within the Earth. Crude oil and natural gas can be simultaneously pumped from the same well.
- Coal is a type of fossil fuel that is typically used to heat homes and generate power. It is a solid fossil fuel found in sedimentary swamps. Unlike crude oil and natural gas, coal is a solid, and it needs to be dug out of the ground.
- Nuclear energy is derived from radioactive elements found in ores like uranium, which are mined, processed, and turned into fuel.
Sadly, as of today, human civilization relies on non-renewable resources as the backbone of its energy system. The fossilized energy sources account for nearly 80 percent of the total global annual energy consumption.
We utilize fossil fuels as they are cheap to refine when compared to others and have high energy content. But one major drawback of these fuels, aside from their limited availability, is that the CO2 emissions, which are a result of combustion.
Combustion of coal and other fuels results in the emission of CO2, which is one of the leading causes of global warming.
Advantages Of Non-Renewable Energy
Affordability and availability are the main advantages of using non-renewable energy. For example, oil and diesel are still good choices for powering vehicles.
- Non-renewable energy is cost-effective and easier to produce and use.
- Non-renewable resources are high in energy. Resources such as coal and oil tend to provide us with more energy compared to renewable energies such as solar or wind energy.
- There are huge profits to be made from mining coal, selling oil or building natural gas pipelines.
- These resources are easy to use, whether at home or anywhere else.
- Consumers can find non-renewable resources at a very affordable price.
- For some people, new machines and other sources of energy cannot replace traditional minerals like coal and oil. Hence, it is also called traditional energy.
- Non-renewable energy is easy to find anywhere. This implies that they can be conveniently transported around the world. People who live in hard-to-reach areas can make use of non-renewable energy.
- Non-renewable resources create jobs. Extraction, transportation, and refining are the parts of non-renewable sources that create jobs.
- Most of the non-renewable sources are also very easy to store.
Disadvantages Of Non-Renewable Energy
While they have a number of advantages, non-renewable resources also have many disadvantages. These include:
- One of the major disadvantages of non-renewable energy is that it is time-consuming. Mining coal, searching for oil, installing oil drills, building oil rigs, installing pipes for extraction, and transporting natural gas are very time-consuming processes. They also require a lot of effort.
- Fossil fuels took millions of years to form in the earth’s crust and cannot be replaced after they have been used.
- Coal and gas also release sulfur dioxide when burned. Sulfur dioxide can cause breathing problems in living things and is also an integral part of acid rain.
- Sources such as coal, oil and natural gas emit a large amount of carbon dioxide when burned. These chemicals quickly destroy the ozone layer.
- When fossil fuels burn, they release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. They convert the rain into acid rain, which is harmful to both wildlife and humans.
- Many non-renewable sources release smog that envelops buildings and other important items. Most of the time, people in modern cities complain about it. Black smog can make your building and other objects look dark and dirty.
- Sometimes there is a risk that huge cargo ships and oil tankers could crash while transporting oil and spill their contents into the sea or elsewhere. It can be fatal to marine animals and people who come in contact with it.
- To keep the power plant running, we have to keep a large amount of fuel on hand every time. This can be expensive and take up a lot of space.
These are some pros and cons of non-renewable energy sources.