Natural Resources

  • Resources is a source or supply from which benefit is produced. A natural resource is replaced by natural process.
  • Renewable resources is a resources that capable of natural regeneration within a time span relevant to human e.g. – freshwater,soil, plant and animals,clean air.
  • Non-renewable resources – available only in limited quantities or their rate of renewal is very slow. E.g. – coal, minerals,fossil fuel.
  1. Water resources
  2. Mineral resources
  3. Forest resources
  4. Food resources
  5. Energy resources
  6. Land resources

Mineral resources

Naturally occurring substances of definite chemical and physical properties formed over a millions of years in the earth’s crust, most of then are represented by chemical formula and usually crystal structures.

Ores – it is a rock that contains high concentration of metals and mineral metals

Types of minerals base on their consumptions

  1. Minerals of industrial use – Fe, Al, Zn, Mn, Cu
  2. Stones used for building – marble, limestone
  3. Ornamental value – diamond, gold, silver, platinum
  4. Non metallic – coal, salt, clay
  5. Fossil fuels – petroleum, gas, coal

Associated Problems of mineral extractions

  • Depletion of available lands due to mining
  • Conversion of land to industries
  • Waste from industries – slag, effluent, dust
  • Pollution of land, water, air,sound

Forest resources

Function of forest

  1. Watershed protection – regulate the atmosphere by absorbing the flow of streams and rivers, filter the pollution,reduce the erosion.
  2. Atmosphere regulation – Trees are absorbed the CO2 and released the O2 by photosynthesis.
  3. Erosion control – network of roots systems control the soil erosion.
  4. Land bank – preserve the biodiversity and wildlife habitats.
  5. Local uses – foods, fules, building materials

Associated problems of the forest resources

  1. Overexploitation – foods, fules, building materials,timber
  2. Deforestation – mining, logging, dams built for irrigation and hydropower generation, timber extraction, agriculture.

Land resources

Different forms of lands – rivers, valleys, hills, wetlands

Land required for building homes, cultivations, industries, animal husbandry,etc. land is renewable resources if it used carefully.

Associated problems of the land resources

  1. Wastelands are formed
  2. Intensive irrigations – water logging and salinity problems.
  3. Industrial and nuclear waste pollute lands.

Water resources

Water cycle maintains the hydrosphere and supports various aquatic eco systems.

Water covers 70 % of the Earth’s surface;

  • 3 % is fresh water
  • 2 % as polar ice caps
  • 1 % is usable

International Conference on Water and the Environment, 1992, in Dublin, Ireland

  • It is vital ro recognized first the basic right to all human beings to have access to clean water and sanitation at affordable price. (Hall et al., 2013)

Associated problems of the water resources

  • Over exploitation
  • Pollution of surface and groundwater via agriculture, industries, domestic
  • Global climate changes
  • Floods
  • Droughts
  • Water for agriculture and power generation.

Role of an individual in conservation of natural resources.

  1. Saving resources – it is cheaper to save resources than to implement remedial strategies. people can avoid the unnecessary consumptions e.g. turn off the light when it is not used, use public transportation for reduce the fuel consumption.
  2. Reduce unsustainable and unequal use of resources – this is referred to as consumption of resource at rate that exceeds their natural replenishment rate. An individual can reduce unsustainable and unequal resource use by sustainable practices and policies such as policies that promoting the renewable energy…
  3. Controlling Population growth – people can support the policies that promoting the sustainable population growth such as family planning programs, reproductive health programs, empowerment of sustainable developments.
  4. Use the resource more efficiently and reduce or prevent the waste generation – reduce energy use and water consumption, recycling and reusing materials such as paper, plastic, and glass, are regeneration

Energy Resources

Energy resources refer to the natural resources that can be harnessed to generate the power and heat.

Renewable energy resources – Energy resources that can be regenerated with short lifespan compare to human.

  • Solar power
  • Wind energy
  • Biomass
  • Geothermal
  • Ocean energy
  • Hydropower

Solar Power

Solar power has low power density because it requires large amount of space (area) to generate particular amount of power than other energy sources such as fossil fuels.

Solar thermal collectors – heat is concentrated and transferred to the carrier fluid, use for heating water and generation of electricity.

Photovoltaic systems (PV cells) – light is converted into electricity.

Biomass energy

Biomass is continuously renewed by net primary production. In developing countries one of the main source of energy.

Bioenergy use as both direct (wood) and indirect convert to organic compounds to electricity or biofuels)

  • Biomass is evenly distributed compare to fossil fuels.
  • Biomass has less environmental impact compared to fossil fuels.

Biomass feedstock – organic raw material to produce bioenergy (bioelectricity, biofuel, biogas) such as wood waste, primary mill residue, forest residue,Agricultural residue.

Biochemicals – Convert biomass into a fuel oil by pyrolysis (biomass heated in absence of O2)

Biofuels

  • Ethanol – fermentation of starch containing raw materials such as corn, potatoes, wheat… using yeast and heat, In the fermentation process breaks down the starch into simple sugar and it is converted into ethanol by yeast.
  • Bio diesel – convert the feedstock oil into biodiesel by the process of transesterification. (vegetable oils, animal fats,used cooking oils. These feedstocks are reacted with an alcohol and a catalyst (sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide) to produce fatty acid methyl esters (FAME), which are the chemical compounds of biodiesel.

Biopower – use biomass to produce the electricity.

  • combustion-steam generation-rotate turbines-electricity

Wind energy

Wind is used to generate the mechanical power then it convert into electricity.

Advantages of wind energy

  1. Releases few pollutants
  2. Renewable energy source
  3. Cost – effective, the cost of generating electricity is significant lower than fossil fuel

Disadvantages of wind energy

  • Environmental issues – threat to migratory birds and bats
  • Scenic value reduce – it is the view that is considered as the attractive.
  • Wind condition can be variable and unpredictable.
  • Noise pollution

Geothermal energy

Energy from the sub-surface of the earth (heat store in the earth crust)

Advantages of geothermal energy

  1. Renewable resources
  2. Reliable and consistent – constantly available, independent from the environmental condition.
  3. Low CO2 compared to fossil fuels
  4. Cost effective – the cost of generating electricity is significant lower than fossil fuel

Disadvantages geothermal energy

  1. Only available in the certain regions usually along tectonic plates
  2. Release H2S
  3. High initial cost
  4. Geopolitical issues – heat is concentrated on certain regions of the world

Hydropower

Building a dam across the river and store the water. then this potential energy converts to kinetic energy to mechanical energy to electricity.

Advantages of the hydropower

  1. Renewable resource
  2. No depletion of air pollutants, solid waste is minimal
  3. Cost effective – the cost of generating electricity is significant lower than fossil fuel

Disadvantages of hydropower

  1. Building a dam and creating a reservoir negatively impacts on the surrounding ecosystems, human settlements, change the water flow, sediment transportation and water quality.
  2. Limited availability – only feasible with high topology and high water available regions.
  3. High initial cost
  4. Geopolitical issues

Ocean energy

Three main types

  1. Ocean thermal energy
  2. Tidal energy
  3. Wave energy

Ocean thermal energy

Use thermal difference between surface and deep water to generate electricity. this method is still not fully developed and expensive

Tidal energy

Energy is produced by the gravitational pull ocean tides by moon and sun, only few suitable site for tidal energy generation, building a damp can be negatively impact on the water flow and sediment transpiration.

Wave energy

Kinetic energy of the ocean waves are used to generate the electricity

References

  • Solar thermal collector – Wikipedia. (2022, December 1). Solar Thermal Collector – Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_thermal_collector
  • Solar power – Wikipedia. (2022, August 12). Solar Power – Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power
  • Biogas – Wikipedia. (2018, May 16). Biogas – Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biogas
  • Wind power – Wikipedia. (2021, November 24). Wind Power – Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power
  • Geothermal power – Wikipedia. (2021, February 1). Geothermal Power – Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermal_power
  • Hydropower still the largest renewable energy source for electricity generation in Sri Lanka – Features | Daily Mirror. (2019, December 31). Hydropower Still the Largest Renewable Energy Source for Electricity Generation in Sri Lanka – Features | Daily Mirror. https://www.dailymirror.lk/features/Hydropower-still-the-largest-renewable-energy-source-for-electricity-generation-in-Sri-Lanka/185-180432
  • Ocean thermal energy conversion – Wikipedia. (2022, January 1). Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion – Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_thermal_energy_conversion
  • Rance Tidal Power Station – Wikipedia. (2014, February 1). Rance Tidal Power Station – Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rance_Tidal_Power_Station
  • Ocean and Wave Energy. (n.d.). Ocean and Wave Energy. http://www.nucleartourist.com/renewables/ocean_and_wave_energy.htm
  • Hall, R. P., Van Koppen, B., & Van Houweling, E. (2013, December 12). The Human Right to Water: The Importance of Domestic and Productive Water Rights. Science and Engineering Ethics, 20(4), 849–868. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-013-9499-3

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