Renewable resources
All the resources that are renewable over time. They are also called as alternative resources. In the first place they include fauna and flora resources that enable food production and energy resources, regarding water, wind, solar and geothermal power. The main feature of them is that they do not wear out during their usage and their exploitation does not pose a threat of their lack for the future generations. Another definition states, that renewable resources are those, which use non-accumulated energy in different forms, especially the water, wind, biomass and solar power.
General information
Renewable resources started to be of a major focus in the 90’ies due to new international commitments, established according to United Nations Organisation and the Kyoto protocol, that concerned the emission of CO2. All the economical estimations regarding renewable resources are especially hard, because of the time factor that needs to be taken into consideration. There is also a possibility of making mistakes in this process, due to major differences of the quality of different resources. They have a various characteristics, regarding accessibility, daily and seasonal changes and density.
Renewable resources concerning environmental protection
There is a statement that claims that the usage of renewable resources reduces environmental pollution. This is not thoroughly true, when taking into consideration for example geothermal energy, which exploitation leads to emission of harmful compounds or wind power, concerning the noise made by windmills. But it is the only alternative for electro-energy (from the eco-developmental point of view). The characteristics of renewable resources regarding environmental issues are the following:
- minimal or limited influence on the environment,
- fuel saving (elimination of coal, oil and gas usage in the process of producing the energy),
- constant renewal of energy resources,
- fixed unit cost of sourced electrical energy,
- the energetics is flexible, due to the usage of various local sources of energy,
- its scattering throughout a country solves the problem of energy transportation - its accessible in any place, which eliminates losses connected with energy
distribution.
| Renewable resources — recommended articles |
| Natural environment — Ecologically sustainable development — Alternative technology — Precautionary principle — Integrated waste management — Environmental policy — Activity center — Environmental problem — Biological assets |
References
- Walters, C. (1986). Adaptive management of renewable resources.
Author: Klaudia Majka
