NATURAL RESOURCESEnvironmental Science 2

Resources or natural resources are any form of matter or energy obtained from the physical environment that meet human needs.

This definition of natural resources is not as simple as it appears. Most resources are created by human ingenuity. Oil was once a useless fluid until humans learned how to locate it, extract it from the ground, and separate it by distillation into various components such as gasoline, home heating oil, and road tar.

Similarly, coal and uranium were once useless rocks. Something may become useful or useless for human needs as a result of changes in the technology of resource extraction and processing Whether something is classified as a resource depends on technology, economics, cultural beliefs, and the environmental effects of finding and using it.

Natural resources are often classified : Renewable resources are

generally living resources (fish, and forests, for example), which can restock (renew) themselves if they are not overharvested.

Non-renewable resources is a natural resource that cannot be re-made or re-grown. Often fossil fuels, such as coal, petroleum and natural gas are considered non-renewable resources.

Recycling involves collecting and remelting or reprocessing a resource

Reuse involves using over and over again in the same form

Recycling vs. Reusing

Actual vs. Potential Resources On the basis of their stages of

developments, resources can be classified into both Actual and Potential resources: The resources held actually in

stock are called Actual resources. Even the actual source of resources may not

be possible to be used to their full.

The portion that can be used profitably with the help of available technology is termed as Potential resourcs.

The size and quantity of a potential resource may change with changes in technology and time.

Resources can also be classified on biotic and abiotic: Biotic resources are

derived from animals and plants (living world).

Abiotic resouces are derived from the non-living world e.g. land, water, and air. Mineral and power

resources can also be abiotic resources some are derived from nature.

Production and Consumption Production – the

process of manufacturing or creating goods and products

Material consumption – the purchasing and use of the resources and products

Natural capital Natural resources are natural

capital converted to commodity inputs to infrastructural capital processes. They include soil, timber, oil, minerals, and other goods taken more or less as they are from the Earth.

Nation’s status

A nation's natural resources often determine its wealth and status in the world economic system, by determining its political influence.

Developed nations are those which are less dependent on natural resources for wealth, due to their greater reliance on infrastructural capital.

For example, the United States used coal as an export in the early 1900s, and also as a main resource fuel in key industries for production. Eventually, as transportation costs went down with time, minerals used as resources became commodities and were traded at world prices.

Conflicts for resources

In recent nears, the depletion of natural capital and attempts to move to sustainable development have been a major focus of development agencies. This is of particular concern in rainforest regions, which hold most of the Earth's natural biodiversity - irreplaceable genetic natural capital. Conservation of natural resources is the major focus of Natural Capitalism, environmentalism, the ecology movement, and Green Parties. Some view this depletion as a major source of social unrest and conflicts in developing nations.

Natural resources Ecoregion Geostrategy Sustainable forestry Fish Wood Metal Minerals List of natural gas

fields List of minerals Petroleum politics Mining

Mineral exploration Refining Prospecting Soft energy path Environment Landscape Land (economics) Soil Causes of war Pure water

RESOURCESSometimes people have

resources and they don’t use it or they think that they don’t have!

SOLAR POWER Energy from the Sun — in the form of insolation from sunlight supports almost all life on Earth via photosynthesis, and drives the Earth's climate and weather.

Solar power is the technology of obtaining usable energy from the light of the Sun. Solar energy has been used in many traditional technologies for centuries and has come into widespread use where other power supplies are absent, such as in remote locations and in space.

Highest insolation areas

REMOTE PLACES DEVICES

APLICATIONS of The Sun’s Energy

Solar energy is currently used in a number of applications:

Heating (hot water, building heat, cooking)

Electricity generation (photovoltaics, heat)

Desalination of seawater

Its application is spreading as the environmental costs and limited supply of other power sources such as fossil fuels are realized.

Applications of the Sun’s Energy: Solar Lighting

Insulation ( light )

Applications of the Sun’s Energy : Photovoltaics

NOTE: Until recently, their use has been limited because of high manufacturing costs.

Photovoltaics – devices or banks of devices that use the photovoltaic effect of semiconductors to generate electricity directly

from sunlight used in very low-power devices such as calculators with LCDs.

used in remote applications such as roadside emergency telephones, remote sensing, cathodic protection of pipe lines, and limited "off grid" home power applications. A third use has been in powering orbiting satellites and other spacecraft.

PHOTOVOLTAICS FUNCTIONING

Photovoltaics bank cells Photovoltaics panels cells in a yatch

Applications of the Sun’s Energy: Power Towers

Power Towers – Know as 'central tower' power plants or 'heliostat' power plants (power towers) use an array of flat, moveable mirrors (called heliostats) to focus the sun's rays upon a collector tower (the target). The high energy at this point of concentrated sunlight is transferred to a substance that can store the heat for later use.

Used to generate electricity

POWER TOWERS FUNCTIONING

IMPACT ON EARTH

Solar activity has several effects on the Earth :

Because the Earth has a magnetic field, charged particles from the solar wind cannot impact the atmosphere directly, but are instead deflected by the magnetic field and aggregate to form the *Van Allen belts

The most energetic particles can 'leak out' of the belts and strike the Earth's upper atmosphere, causing auroras, known as aurorae borealis in the northern hemisphere and aurorae australis in the southern hemisphere*The Van Allen belts consist of an inner belt composed primarily of protons and an

outer belt composed mostly of electrons. Radiation within the Van Allen belts can occasionally damage satellites passing through them.

IMPACT ON EARTH

Vegetation uses photosynthesis to convert solar energy to chemical energy incorporated in biomass. Biomass may be burned directly to produce heat and electricity or processed into methane (natural gas), hydrogen and other biofuels

Hydroelectric dams and wind turbines are powered by solar energy

through its interaction with the Earth's atmosphere and the resulting weather phenomena

Ocean thermal energy production uses the thermal gradients present across ocean depths to generate power. These temperature differences are because of the energy of the sun

Fossil fuels are ultimately derived from solar energy captured by vegetation in the geological past

Sunlight is collected using focusing mirrors and transmitted via optical fibers into a building's interior to supplement lighting

Indirect solar power involves multiple transformations of sunlight which result in a useable form of energy:

Advantages and Disadvantages

The 122 PW* of sunlight reaching the earth's surface is plentiful compared to the 13 TW** average power consumed by humans.

Solar power is pollution free during use. Production end wastes and emissions are manageable using existing pollution controls.

Facilities can operate with little maintenance or intervention after initial setup.

Solar electric generation is economically competitive where grid connection or fuel transport is difficult, costly or impossible. Examples include satellites, island communities, remote locations and ocean vessels.

Advantages :

* Petawatt(1015) ** Terawatt(1012)

Advantages and Disadvantages

When grid connected, solar electric generation can displace the highest cost electricity during times of peak demand (in most climatic regions), can reduce grid loading, and can eliminate the need for local battery power for use in times of darkness and high local demand.

Grid connected solar electricity can be used locally thus minimizing transmission/distribution losses (approximately 7.2%).

Once the initial capital cost of building a solar power plant has been spent, operating costs are low when compared to existing power technologies.

Advantages :

Advantages and Disadvantages

Limited power density: Average daily insolation in the E.U. is 3-7 kWh/m2 usable by 7-17.7% efficient solar panels.

Intermittency: It is not available at night and is reduced when there is cloud cover, decreasing the reliability of peak output performance or requiring a means of energy storage. For power grids to stay functional at all times, the addition of substantial amounts of solar generated electricity would require the expansion of energy storage facilities, other renewable energy sources, or the use of backup conventional powerplants

Locations at high latitudes or with substantial cloud cover offer reduced potential for solar power use

Like electricity from nuclear or fossil fuel plants, it can only realistically be

used to power transport vehicles by converting light energy into another form of energy (e.g. battery stored electricity or by electrolysing water to produce hydrogen) suitable for transport.

Solar cells produce DC which must be converted to AC when used in currently existing distribution grids. This incurs an energy penalty of 4-12%

Disadvantages :