CLASSIFICATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES, CHARACTERISTICS AND EXAMPLES - ENVIRONMENT - 2025

Natural resources can be classified as renewable or non-renewable, biotic, abiotic, potential, current, reserves, and stock. Natural resources are those that exist in the environment without any human action.

Some of them are essential for human survival, while others meet the needs of society. All human-made products in an economy are made up of natural resources to some degree.

Renewable resources are those that can be replenished naturally. Some natural resources include sunlight, air, and wind. They are continuously available and their quality is not affected by human consumption. However, renewable resources do not recover quickly and are susceptible to running out if overused.

Non-renewable resources form extremely slowly and are not found naturally in the environment.

A resource is considered non-renewable when its rate of consumption exceeds its recovery time. Some known non-renewable resources are minerals and fuels.

Natural resources can also be biotic and abiotic. Biotics include fuels made from organic matter, such as coal and oil. Abiotics come from non-living organisms and non-organic materials. Some recognized abiotic resources include land, water, air, and heavy metals such as gold, iron, bronze, and silver.

Potentials are those that exist in a region and could be used in the future, such as sedimented oil. The current ones are those that are commonly used, such as wood.

Reserves are the known deposits of a resource; those in stock are those that have been found but could not be used since the technology is not available.

How are natural resources classified?

1- renewable resources

Renewable resources are constantly renewed despite human exploitation. They are part of the Earth's natural environment and are the largest component of the biosphere.

To some extent they also include sustainable agriculture, water resources and renewable energy. Wood, plants and animals are also renewable resources.

Water

Water is a renewable resource if control, care, use and treatment protocols are followed. If these protocols are not followed, it becomes a non-renewable resource.

The removal of water from unsuitable spaces can cause subsidence that cannot be renewed. 97.5% of the Earth's water is salty and 3% is sweet; more than two-thirds are frozen.

Pollution is one of the biggest problems for the renewal of water. Usually hydroelectric dams, thermoelectric power plants and oil refineries are used; It is estimated that 22% of the water is used in industry.

Non-farm food

Most of the food that humans eat comes from renewable resources; it is obtained from animals and plants. Fruits, vegetables, seeds, and grains are great sources of nutrition.

Air

All living organisms need oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, and many other gases in small amounts to survive.

2- Non-renewable resources

These resources form slowly or do not form naturally in the environment. Some resources naturally decay without humans interfering. Minerals, radioactive elements, and fuels are the most common.

Minerals and metals

They are in vast quantities on Earth and are only mined when the conditions are there to be economically viable. They are non-renewable for the time humans live; some renew faster and are more common than others.

Fossil fuels

Coal, crude oil and natural gas can take thousands of years to form naturally and cannot be replaced as quickly as they are consumed.

It is believed that fossil fuels will become very expensive to grow and humanity will have to replace them with other sources of energy; renewable energy is a good option.

3- Abiotic resources

These resources are derived from non-living things. Unlike biotic resources, they refer to non-living physical elements and chemical elements. Abiotic resources include water, air, land, heavy metals, minerals, and sunlight.

The exploitation of these resources, such as water and minerals, are of great concern. In many cases these products are exploited at a greater rate than they are replaced.

4- Biotic resources

These resources are gathered from the biosphere or can be cultivated, the opposite of abiotic resources. The most common are forests, animals and marine organisms.

Food, sugars, beverages, and medicines are obtained from plants. The wood that is used to make paper, for the construction of furniture and houses comes from the forests. Likewise, forests also provide oxygen, provide asylum for other organisms and affect the climate.

5- Potential resources

Potential resources are those that exist in a region and could be used in the future.

For example, oil is known to exist in several countries but they have sedimented rocks. Until it's taken out of those rocks and used, it's still a potential resource. Potential resources are the opposite of current resources.

6- Current resources

The resources that have been found fall into this category, and their quality and quantity have been determined. They are the resources that are used today. When we talk about current resources we can include oil and natural gases that humanity uses.

7- Reservations

Reserves usually refer to known coal fuel deposits. Its existence is known to a reasonable level, based on scientific and geological studies; despite studies there is always a level of variability. These reserves are also economically recoverable with existing technologies.

8- Resources in stock

They are the resources that exist and are known to exist, but have not been exploited or used.

They are not used as there is no technology or expertise to do so. An example of these resources in stock is creating hydrogen and oxygen with water.

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