what are nonrenewable resources 
nonrenewable resources are natural substances that are not replenished with the speed at which it is consumed as such a nonrenewable resource is a finite resource examples of nonrenewable resources include fossil fuels oil natural gas and coal the opposite of a nonrenewable resource is a renewable resource one that is replenished naturally or can be sustained understanding nonrenewable resourcesnonrenewable resources come directly from the earth this can be directly from the ground or a mine the reserves of these substances took billions of years to form and it will take billions of years to replace the supplies used as such the supplies of nonrenewable resources are finite and cannot be replaced humans extract these resources in gas liquid or solid form and then convert them to suit their needs crude oil natural gas coal and uranium are nonrenewable resources these are all processed into products that can be used commercially for instance the fossil fuel industry extracts crude oil from the ground and converts it to gasoline fossil fuel liquids also are refined into petrochemical products that are used as ingredients in the manufacture of literally hundreds of products from plastics and polyurethane to solvents some types of groundwater are considered nonrenewable resources if the aquifer is unable to be replenished at the same rate at which it s drained most societies are heavily dependent on nonrenewable resources especially for energy it s estimated that about 80 of all of the world s energy is consumed using fossil fuels 1 not only does this put a huge strain on the available supply but it also has a major impact on the environment burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide which leads to climate change in economic terms nonrenewables are resources of financial or economic value that cannot be readily replaced at the speed with which they are being consumed nonrenewable resources vs renewable resourcesnonrenewable resources are contrasted with renewable ones the supplies of renewable resources are abundant and endless which makes them easy to find and easy to replace unlike nonrenewable ones renewable resources are generally sustainable while the former can be depleted the latter can t the sun wind and water are the most common examples of renewable resources others include lumber which can be replenished through planting the earth s heat geothermal and biomass the call to use renewable resources especially as energy sources is becoming more common that s because our dependence on and consumption of nonrenewable resources is causing a rapid decline in supplies and leading to climate change clean energy sources include solar energy and turbines that are powered by wind these easily replenish themselves and don t have a detrimental impact on the environment 