What refers to renewable natural resources. Exhaustible: renewable and non-renewable natural resources Relatively renewable resources include

Renewable natural resources, under certain natural conditions, can be constantly restored as they are used. These include flora and fauna, a number of mineral resources, such as salt accumulating in lakes, peat deposits, and partly soil. However, to restore them and ensure expanded reproduction, it is necessary to create certain conditions. Renewal of renewable resources occurs at different rates. It takes 300-600 years for the formation of 1 cm of humus layer of soil, tens of years for the restoration of a cut down forest, and years for the population of game animals. Consequently, the rate of consumption of renewable resources must correspond to the rate of their restoration, otherwise renewable natural resources may become non-renewable: soils may erode, animal and plant species may completely disappear.[...]

Renewable resources include soil, vegetation, fauna, as well as some mineral resources, for example, salts deposited in lakes and sea lagoons; they can be reproduced in natural processes and maintained in a certain constant amount, determined by the level of their annual reproduction and consumption. [ . ..]

Damage to renewable resources, as already noted, can be compensated to a certain extent by the forces of nature itself. Thus, polluted air is dispersed and mixed with fresh air as a result of the movement of air masses. Gases, soot and dust emitted into the atmosphere are carried away, the concentration of these substances decreases, they partially precipitate and become safe in small quantities. Pollution of water bodies is counteracted by a variety of aquatic biota: algae, microbes, and invertebrates. Through their activities, they destroy pollutants, decomposing and using them for food, and then themselves become food for other living beings. The self-purification of reservoirs is facilitated by diluting contaminated water with fresh water. Self-renewal of vegetation and animals occurs.[...]

The volume of renewable resources used by the technosphere determines its environmental intensity. A measure of the environmental intensity of the technosphere or the environmental intensity of production can be the ratio of technogenic carbon emissions to its biotic cycle or the ratio between technical and biotic energy.[...]

Water resources belong to the category of renewable resources if water pollution as a result of economic activities is not so large-scale that it causes irreversible qualitative changes in natural waters. In order to preserve natural waters, it is necessary to carry out more thorough treatment of wastewater discharged by industrial enterprises, reduce the processes of surface erosion, preserve and create water protection zones of forests. [...]

Water is a renewable resource, but nevertheless a limited one. Water has already been called “the oil of the 21st century,” and there are all prerequisites for the fact that it will increasingly limit the technological processes that use it. Unlike wood or other renewable resources, the overall average amount of water available to people is fixed. However, the constancy of supply rates is not fixed, since droughts, floods and average annual precipitation are relatively common phenomena. Since all industrial sectors use water, some much more than others, production location, type and efficiency are important factors in water budgeting.[...]

Water resources include all types of water, excluding water physically and chemically associated with rocks and the biosphere. They are divided into two different groups, consisting of stationary water reserves (see Table 1 on page 6) and renewable reserves participating in the water cycle and assessed by the balance method. For practical needs, mainly fresh water is needed. The possibility of using fresh water from stationary reserves is extremely limited. This applies, for example, to flowing lakes and mountain glaciers, the stationary reserves of which cannot be used by withdrawing water from them without disturbing the renewable water resources of a given lake or glacier, formed in the process of water exchange. The exploitation of stationary groundwater resources, which are weakly involved in water exchange processes, is in some cases possible without damage to the renewable resources of these waters. Obviously, this also applies to polar glaciers, which have large one-time reserves.[...]

Natural resources of the ecosphere are usually divided into non-renewable (mineral resources), renewable (mainly biological) and “inexhaustible” (solar energy, water, air, subsoil heat, etc.) (Fig. 4). This latter category can also include such life support systems as global biogeochemical cycles of basic elements, the global hydrological cycle, circulation of the atmosphere and ocean, processes of synthesis and destruction of organic matter, etc. This is a very conditional division. The boundaries between resource categories are blurred. These boundaries are relative in terms of time. For example, mineral resources and soils continue to be created and evolve in our time, but the rate of their formation is incomparably lower than the rate of their consumption. Water, a generally renewable resource, may, under certain circumstances, be a non-renewable resource.[...]

As for renewable resources, until recently it seemed that there was no question of finiteness or replaceability for them. However, it is now clear that this is only true in relation to wind and ocean currents. Renewability is by no means synonymous with inexhaustibility. Everything depends on the ratio of the rates of withdrawal and renewal and on the vulnerability of the natural system.[...]

Potentially renewable - resources, the reserves of which, although they may be depleted or polluted as a result of too rapid consumption, will, under normal conditions, be restored as a result of natural processes (trees, fresh waters of rivers and lakes, soils, wild animals).[...]

The biological resources of the Arctic should be understood in a broad biological and ecological interpretation. On the one hand, these are renewable resources directly used in economic activities: game animals, resources of fish and other aquatic organisms, commercial marine mammals, grazing resources of reindeer, forage resources of meadows.[...]

Forest resources, in particular wood, should also be considered relatively renewable resources.[...]

Payment for natural resources also includes payments for restorative environmental management - maintaining renewable resources of territories in a stable productive state (fish farming, agroforestry, anti-erosion measures, reclamation, etc.).[...]

Water is also a renewable resource. The total annual flow on the planet is about 40,000 km3, but so far only 3,500 km3 is used. It seems there are still significant reserves of water on the planet. However, the following must be taken into account. Most of the flows (28,000 km3) are seasonal. A significant part of the rivers are located in inaccessible, sparsely populated areas. According to geographers, the amount of available flow is only 7,000 km3. Construction of dams could change this estimate to 9,000 km3. For example, the largest river, the Amazon, with its tributaries, concentrates up to 15% of the global fresh water flow. However, this water is used for the needs of only 0.4% of the world's population. Thus, 95% of the Amazon's flow is not available for use. This entire huge reserve of fresh water ends up in the Atlantic Ocean. The likelihood that consumption of water from the Amazon will be expanded in the near future is low.[...]

Exploitation of biological resources. Among the renewable resources, forest plays a major role in human life, which is of no small importance as a geographical and environmental factor. Forests prevent erosion processes in soils, serve as a barrier to surface water, that is, they store moisture and regulate the optimal regime of groundwater. Forests are home to animals of material and aesthetic value to humans: ungulates, fur-bearing animals and other game. In Russia, forests occupy about 760 million hectares, or 33% of its total landmass, and are one of its main natural resources.[...]

In the works of economists when assessing renewable resources, it is used like this! called the resource approach. This means that living components of ecosystems receive a value assessment only if they are involved in the process of social production and are necessary for the everyday life of society. In other words, they fall into the category of characterized non-market values.[...]

The problems of using renewable resources are even more complex. In general, their quantity and quality have decreased worldwide under the influence of human activity. Since the most important source of renewable resources is photosynthesis, which creates primary organic matter, we will discuss the geo-ecological problems associated with these resources, mainly in Chapter IX, devoted to the biosphere.[...]

Essentially, it represents part of the kinetic energy of the sediment mass. The real hydropower potential of all the world's rivers is estimated at 2900 GW. In fact, less than 1,000 GW of hydroelectric power is currently being used. There are tens of thousands of hydroelectric power plants operating around the world with a total electrical capacity of 660 GW. For their work, reservoirs have been created on rivers, often entire cascades of reservoirs. Since most hydropower units are several decades old, and their depreciation period ranges from 50 to 200 years, many problems associated with the reconstruction of hydroelectric units can be foreseen. The growth in the use of hydropotential is already subject to a number of economic and environmental restrictions. They are also an obstacle to any significant use of the energy of surface ocean currents, which has not yet been assessed on a global scale, and tidal energy, equal to the hydropotential of rivers.[...]

No less difficulties have arisen with some types of renewable resources, the reliable natural mechanisms of regulation of which previously did not cause concern. Alarm is caused by the decline in soil fertility, the productivity of natural ecosystems, the reduction in forest area and the disappearance of certain species of plants and animals.[...]

Much more important is the human influence on renewable resources (which, ultimately, are also exhaustible). This group (according to I.A. Shilov, 2000, p. 448) includes all forms of living and bioinert matter: soils, vegetation, fauna, microorganisms, etc. A characteristic feature of renewable resources is their ability to reproduce themselves, time scales which is comparable to the rate of their removal from the biosphere as a result of exploitation and other forms of human activity. The totality of renewable resources is nothing more than the global ecosystem of the Earth, existing on the basis of fundamental laws of ecology. [...]

Establishing adequate payments for the right to use resources based on the calculation of differential rent (as is customary in countries with developed market relations), on the one hand, rests on the problem of ownership and ownership of natural resources in general, and especially in relation to land resources, since For most renewable resources and wildlife, land is the spatial basis for their distribution. On the other hand, the level of solvency and sustainability of a significant number of Russian enterprises using natural resources is limited in the process of a possible increase in payments for resources.[...]

However, sometimes, when used wastefully, some types of renewable resources can become non-renewable or require a disproportionate amount of time to renew. For example, soils that increase fertility when managed wisely can deteriorate sharply if improperly managed, and the resulting erosion often physically destroys the soil layer. The same can be said about the resources of flora and fauna. During predatory use, the ability of biological systems to reproduce themselves is disrupted, and then these resources become practically non-renewable.[...]

More difficult to determine was how to summarize the output from renewable resource monitoring. Within the framework of GEMS, a methodology was developed in this problem and a regional study of natural resources was carried out on a small scale (for example, soil conditions, forests). It was believed that this would make it possible to further disseminate the experience gained in various countries and organize a wide network of such monitoring. In any case, it should be noted in recent years that the center of gravity within the GEMS framework has shifted from pollution monitoring to a more balanced approach, addressing both the issues of monitoring renewable resources and some additional environmental problems.[...]

The level of sustainable consumption is the highest rate at which renewable resources can be used without reducing the possibility of their renewal. When sustainable consumption levels are exceeded, resource degradation occurs.[...]

Of course, this also applies to the intensive, irrational use of natural resources, in which the very ability of nature to reproduce renewable resources may be undermined, and non-renewable resources will be depleted, depleted faster than human society will be able to accordingly rebuild its economy, its economic activity.[ .. .]

Currently, environmental protection and rational use of natural resources for the benefit of people is a pressing problem for all humanity. For the first time in the history of the development of human society, prominent scientists, philosophers, economists and others are questioning the inexhaustibility of our planet’s renewable resources (water, air and soil). In modern conditions, the presence of the latter in sufficient quantity and proper quality, along with non-renewable resources (ores, metals, coal, gas, oil, etc.), is one of the main factors determining the further economic development of various countries.[...]

Comprehensive, competent use of this (renewable) resource, taking into account natural recovery, promises an income of at least $100 billion. The financial return from the use of one cubic meter of wood in Russia is three to four times lower than in developed countries. Export of round (unprocessed) timber continues to dominate the forestry business. At the same time, huge forest resources in the form of wood pulp - logging waste (the upper part of a tree trunk, branches, etc.) at best rot in the forest, at worst - they are burned directly on the plot, often becoming the cause of forest fires. And since the price of timber increases sharply as it is further processed, it becomes obvious: management in this area must shift the emphasis from logging and selling cheap round timber to deep, versatile processing. This is precisely the solution that the Federal Timber Industry Development Program is aimed at. It provides not only the quantitative development of the development of timber resources, but also the qualitative one.[...]

Humanity, unlike any other type of living organism, lives not only on renewable resources, but also on an absolutely non-renewable and irreplaceable supply of them, and moreover, the further, the more so. At the same time, part of the solid matter changes its physical and chemical structure irreversibly, energy, accumulating in the surface layers of the atmosphere and affecting the overlying layers, changes the entire geophysics and geochemistry of the planet, and substances dispersed in natural conditions are concentrated dangerously for life, poisoning the living environment. These processes occur throughout the entire hierarchy of natural systems, and the rate of contraction of natural shagreen leather directly depends on the number of people “eating” it.[...]

For non-renewable sources, the rate of consumption should not exceed the rate of their replacement with renewable resources.[...]

In the age of the scientific and technological revolution, humanity began to develop almost all renewable and non-renewable resources available to it. At the same time, a significant part of non-renewable resources has already been used. In many countries, some renewable resources (wood, hydropower, fresh water) are almost completely used.[...]

Despite the fact that the planet’s water is in a continuous cycle, it cannot be classified as a renewable resource: a substance with the chemical formula H2O is periodically renewable, but only a small proportion of the waters of the World Ocean represents a resource of the quality required by humans. As a resource, water is (see Introduction, Fig. 1) a locally and qualitatively exhaustible substance. Moreover, since the water cycle brings the lithosphere, soil, atmosphere, and oceans into a single water system, it promotes the migration of anthropogenic impurities, including xenobiotics, into the biosphere. The latter are ingredients of pollution. The law of the resource cycle discussed above is fully applicable to water consumption (i.e., the use of water withdrawn from natural sources): the mass of water withdrawn from reservoirs and streams is equal to the mass returned. The fact, for example, that irrigated agriculture is characterized by significant “irrecoverable” water consumption only means that the withdrawn water is not returned directly to the places from which it was taken. [...]

For example, the stumpage fee currently does not depend on the costs of reproduction, preparation and involvement of forest resources in circulation. Real costs and allocations for reforestation and forestry activities in different conditions vary significantly (tens of times) [...]

With a total useful volume of 3000 cubic meters. km of reservoir increases sustainable flow, that is, renewable resources suitable for use, by 25%. On the other hand, the average global duration of water exchange in river systems has increased from 20 to 100 days, which indicates a deterioration in their ecological condition. In particular, the natural self-purifying ability of rivers, associated with the constant absorption of oxygen from the air by river water flowing in a turbulent regime, has noticeably decreased. Oxygen dissolved in water is spent on the oxidation of organic pollutants carried by water.[...]

Siberian cedar, although it occupies millions of hectares in Russia, should also be classified as a relatively renewable resource, because the tree’s lifespan reaches 300 years, i.e. equals the life of several generations of people.[...]

The process of photosynthesis is the basis of life support on Earth, and its result, biological products, is the most important renewable resource. These 220 billion tons of organic matter per year are the main renewable resource of the ecosphere, providing agriculture, forestry, fisheries and other sectors of the economy associated with the use of renewable natural resources.[...]

Starting from the VIII-XI centuries. to these are added inventions that use the forces of water and wind. The era of mechanical energy based on renewable resources has arrived. Man's technical capabilities have expanded, and at the same time his pressure on nature has increased. Already in the Renaissance (XV-XNUMXth centuries), population growth, the development of crafts and trade, cities and roads, geographical discoveries and conquests, construction, shipbuilding, and military affairs accelerated the development of new lands, deforestation and gave a powerful impetus to the development of mining and metallurgy , and then mechanically driven machines. However, technogenesis has acquired the greatest acceleration and environmental significance since the advent of heat engines and the beginning of the use of fossil fuel resources.[...]

An important point in the rational management of natural resources is planning and forecasting the use of natural resources. This especially applies to the use of renewable and relatively renewable resources such as flora and fauna, as well as soil fertility. Planning for the use of land resources involves the development and implementation of rational crop rotations, planning the use of forest resources, drawing up cutting plans taking into account the restoration of forests. When planning, one should take into account the ever-increasing rates of use of natural resources and make a long-term calculation of their consumption based on mathematical forecasting methods. At the same time, an operational plan is being developed to implement a complex set of environmental protection works. The theoretical basis for such development can be network control methods. These include: network planning methods, mathematical programming methods, expert forecasting methods, mathematical and statistical forecasting methods.[...]

Environmental management is an interdisciplinary scientific field that studies the general principles of society’s use of natural resources and geo-ecological “services.” At the same time, the concept of environmental “services” includes a variety of phenomena, such as processes of maintaining the sustainability of ecological and other natural systems, as mechanisms of natural self-purification of natural and technogenic systems from pollution, as the complex role of biological systems as a source of renewable resources, a reservoir of biological diversity, a mechanism for maintaining water and air quality, an object for enjoying nature, etc.[...]

In this situation, there is also the possibility of “closing” the resource cycle. Since forests are capable of self-regeneration, i.e. belong to relatively renewable resources, the resource cycle is carried out in such a way as to take advantage of this feature of the forest. This task relates to the field of rational forest management and is solved through a system of appropriate organizational and technological measures that reduce wood losses, increase the efficiency of its use and, consequently, reduce the volume and area of ​​forests cut down, as well as promoting their intensive self-regeneration.[...]

In practice, in the global system provided by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), environmental monitoring refers to the monitoring of renewable resources of the biosphere. In the work, environmental monitoring also includes monitoring of the condition of the soil, vegetation cover, water resources (hydrological cycle), marine resources, monitoring of the biosphere (biotic component).[...]

Thus, while maintaining and accumulating the total supply of wood in forests, industrial wood required for production turns out to be an exhaustible and only relatively renewable resource. Since, however, scientific and technological progress is aimed at the development and use of any wood in industry, the severity of the problem can be reduced. With all that has been said, one should keep in mind the dual natural resource essence of forests, which are both sources (producers) of raw materials and an environment-forming factor of global importance. Therefore, the exploitation of forests for timber production must necessarily (i.e., on the basis of legislation) take into account the space, soil and water protection, climate-forming, recreational and other environmental functions of forest systems.[...]

Here we will dwell in more detail on the mathematical issues associated with the description of periodic traveling waves, “wave packets” or “wave trains”. It is natural to assume that periodically traveling waves will also occur in more complex spatial distributions of biological communities. In our presentation we will follow the well-known works of N. Koppel and L. Howard, but not verbatim, retaining only their general idea.[...]

More than twenty years ago, scientists convincingly proved that the exponential economic growth that is taking place is objectively conditioned by certain limits, which are associated with the depletion of non-renewable resources and with the approach to consumption of all production of renewable resources. If anthropogenic impacts on the environment remain unchanged and existing economic trends continue, then “the limits of growth on our planet will be reached in the next 100 years” (Danilov-Danilyan, Losev, 2000). Thus, one of the most important limiting factors for the survival of humans as a biological species is the limited and exhaustible nature of their most important natural resources.[...]

These modifications are both positive (and necessary) in nature - both for humans and for nature itself (biological productivity increases, biocenoses are rejuvenated) and negative in nature (pollution of the natural environment, depletion of non-renewable resources, weakening of natural capabilities for the reproduction of renewable resources.[ ...]

The main provisions of the general plan of action formulated in the work are close to the arguments that E.K. Fedorov gives in his work. The main attention is paid to the problem of stabilizing the population, stopping the “dispersal” of renewable resources, using new technology to increase the “productivity” of renewable resources, using renewable energy sources, achieving ecological closure of human activity (this is also discussed in the book of B. Kom- Monera).[...]

To be more precise, such a system should be called monitoring of anthropogenic changes in the natural environment. The work, written jointly by the author and R. Mann, sets out agreed views on monitoring anthropogenic changes in the state of the natural environment and renewable resources.[...]

Noticeable changes in the biosphere began from the time when man began to use energy external to the biosphere - the non-renewable energy of fossil fuels - to meet his production needs. In the pre-industrial era, man used for his existence only renewable resources of the biosphere in the form of its products. [...]

Existing methods for calculating the cost of territory and damage do not allow a similar approach to assessing value. Moreover, the experience of the group led by the domestic ecologist V.N. Bolshakov on the development of environmental impact assessments indicates that the damage to renewable resources calculated using these methods is not comparable in size to the profit that can be obtained from the development of oil or gas fields.[...]

A sustainable society is one equipped with information, social and institutional mechanisms capable of controlling the positive feedback loops that drive exponential population and capital growth, i.e. a society that meets the needs of today's generation without depriving future generations of the opportunity to meet their own needs. In a sustainable society, according to G. Daly, the rate of consumption of renewable resources does not exceed the rate of their restoration; the rate of consumption of non-renewable resources does not exceed the rate of development of their sustainable renewable replacement; the intensity of pollutant emissions does not exceed the ability of the environment to absorb them. Such a society is characterized by an almost equal ratio of fertility and mortality, an adequate and guaranteed material standard of living for all, ensured through population control, capital stocks and technology.

Resources whose reserves are either restored faster than they are used, or do not depend on whether they are used or not. This is a rather vague definition, and often the concept of “renewable resources” does not include exactly what this phrase means. The term was introduced into circulation as a contrast to the concept “ non-renewable resources"(resources whose reserves may be exhausted in the near future at the current rate of use).

Many resources that are considered renewable are actually not renewable and will someday be depleted. An example is solar energy. On the other hand, with sufficient development of technology, many resources that are traditionally considered non-renewable can be restored. For example, metals can be reused. Research is underway on the recycling of plastic products.

Solar-wind power plant

Renewable Energy(RES) - in modern world practice, RES include: hydro, solar, wind, geothermal, hydraulic energy, energy of sea currents, waves, tides, temperature gradient of sea water, temperature difference between the air mass and the ocean, heat of the Earth, animal biomass, plant and household origin.

There are different opinions about what type of resource nuclear fuel should be classified as. The reserves of nuclear fuel, taking into account the possibility of its reproduction in breeder reactors, are enormous; they can last for thousands of years. Despite this, it is usually classified as a non-renewable resource. The main argument for this is the high environmental risk associated with the use of nuclear energy.

  • Fuel obtained from plant processing: alcohol, biogas, biodiesel

see also

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See what “Non-renewable resources” are in other dictionaries:

    Non-renewable resources- Non-renewable resources: part of the natural resources involved in economic activity, converted into products and turned into waste at the stages of the product life cycle (for example, oil, gas, coal, peat, shale, etc.)... Source... Official terminology

    Resource A resource that allows you to achieve the desired result using certain transformations. Resource (equipment) is the amount of work for which a machine, building, etc. is designed. After the resource is exhausted, safe operation is not guaranteed,... ... Wikipedia

    Resources that are not self-regenerating or artificially restored. Non-renewable resources mainly include minerals. The process of ore formation and formation of rocks is continuous, but its speed... ... Financial Dictionary

    Irrenewable natural resources - [A.S. Goldberg. English-Russian energy dictionary. 2006] Topics energy in general Synonyms irreplaceable natural resources EN nonrenewable natural resourcesirreplaceable natural resources ... Technical Translator's Guide

    non-renewable natural resources- Natural resources that are not capable of self-renewal naturally, for example, oil, gas, coal, unlike renewable natural resources... Dictionary of Geography

    Non-renewable fuel and energy resources- Non-renewable fuel and energy resources: energy sources accumulated in nature in the form of fossils and not renewable in existing geological conditions... Source: GOST R 53905 2010. National standard of the Russian Federation.... ... Official terminology

    non-renewable fuel and energy resources- 38 non-renewable fuel and energy resources: Sources of energy accumulated in nature in the form of fossils and not renewable under existing geological conditions. Note These include coal, oil, gas, peat and oil shale.… … Dictionary-reference book of terms of normative and technical documentation

    See natural resources. Geography. Modern illustrated encyclopedia. M.: Rosman. Edited by prof. A. P. Gorkina. 2006 ... Geographical encyclopedia

    RESOURCES- (English resources, French ressources) – means, values, reserves, opportunities; sources of funds and income. A special place among economic developments is occupied by economic developments, which in their totality constitute its economic potential as an ability... ... Financial and credit encyclopedic dictionary

    The request "Non-renewable resources" is redirected here. A separate article is needed on this topic. Natural resources natural resources: bodies and forces of nature, which at a given level of development of productive forces and knowledge can be ... ... Wikipedia

Books

  • Luminaria. Flying frigate, Alexey Olegovich Karpov. Technologies have made it possible to replace non-renewable resources for people and reduce pollution emissions by 10%, but this did not stop the end of the world - a crazy comet burst into the Earth’s atmosphere first...

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Abstract on the topic:

Exhaustible and renewable resources

Completed by: Muzhikov D. group P-11

Introduction

The socio-economic development of mankind in the second half of the twentieth century was accompanied and continues to be accompanied at the beginning of the 3rd millennium by the depletion of natural resources, degradation and pollution of the natural environment, and an increase in the overall mortality and morbidity rate of the population, including children. The difficult environmental situation is generated by a system of irrational, wasteful environmental management and is an important characteristic and component of the socio-economic, political, spiritual and cultural crisis both in our country and in the world as a whole.

The urgency of preventing an environmental crisis, ensuring the environmentally safe development of human civilization, the need to solve global problems in an interconnected world are the objective basis for the emergence of common interests of various countries and peoples in the search for common coordinated solutions and actions.

In conditions when the scale of anthropogenic impact on the environment has reached such proportions that life on the planet is at risk, environmental protection and rational use of natural resources come to the fore.

The purpose of my work is to study the concept of natural resources in the context of large-scale anthropogenic impact on the environment.

To achieve the goal, it is necessary to solve a number of tasks:

studying the concept of “natural resources”;

classification of natural resources;

analysis of the problem of exhaustibility of natural resources;

study of the use of natural resources and the problem of environmental pollution.

1. The concept of “natural resources” and their classification

The main components of the environment are natural ecological systems: the earth, its subsoil, surface and underground waters, atmospheric air, wildlife, nature reserves and national parks - everything that is commonly called the natural environment.

Natural resources are bodies and forces of nature that, at a given stage of development of the productive forces of society, can be used as consumer goods or means of production, and whose social utility changes (directly or indirectly) under the influence of human activity.

The main types of natural resources are solar energy, intraterrestrial heat, water resources, land, mineral, forest, fish, plant, animal resources, etc.

Natural resources are an important part of a country's national wealth and a source of wealth and services. The process of reproduction is essentially a continuous process of interaction between society and nature, in which society subjugates the forces of nature and natural resources to satisfy needs. Natural resources largely determine not only the socio-economic potential of the country and region and the efficiency of social production, but also the health and life expectancy of the population.

Natural resources are the object of study in two aspects: as the most important part of the socio-economic potential realized in the process of creating the gross domestic product, part of the country’s national wealth; as the basis of the natural environment, subject to protection, restoration and reproduction.

The main components of natural resources are:

Water resources are water reserves used as a source of water supply for industrial and domestic needs, hydropower, as well as transport routes, etc.

Land resources - resources used or intended for use in agriculture, for buildings in populated areas, for railways and highways, as well as other structures, for nature reserves, parks, squares, etc., occupied by minerals and other land resources that until recently were considered a non-renewable element of natural resources.

Forest resources - raw materials (used to obtain wood), as well as forests for various purposes - recreational (sanitary and resort), field - and forest protection, water conservation, etc.

Mineral resources are all natural components of the lithosphere used or intended for use in the production of products and services as mineral raw materials in their natural form or after preparation, enrichment and processing (iron, manganese, chromium, lead, etc.) or energy sources.

Energy resources are the totality of all types of energy: sun and space, nuclear energy, fuel and energy (in the form of mineral reserves), thermal, hydropower, wind energy, etc.

Biological resources are all living environment-forming components of the biosphere with genetic material contained in them. They are sources for people to receive material and spiritual benefits. These include commercial objects (fish stocks in natural and artificial reservoirs), cultivated plants, domestic animals, picturesque landscapes, microorganisms, i.e. This includes plant resources, animal resources (stocks of fur-bearing animals in natural conditions; stocks reproduced under artificial conditions), etc.

Natural resources are used as means of labor (land, waterways, water for irrigation); energy sources (fossil fuels, hydro and wind energy, nuclear fuel, biofuel, etc.); raw materials and materials (minerals, wood, biological resources, technical water reserves); direct consumer goods (air oxygen, medicinal plants, food products - drinking water, wild plants, mushrooms, hunting and fishing products), recreational objects, environmental protection objects. Due to the dual nature of the concept of “natural resources”, reflecting their natural origin, with on the one hand, and economic significance, on the other, several classifications have been developed and widely used in the specialized and geographical literature.

There are different approaches to classifying natural resources:

I. Classification of natural resources by origin. Natural resources (bodies or natural phenomena) arise in natural environments (water, atmosphere, plant or soil cover, etc.) and form certain combinations in space that change within the boundaries of natural-territorial complexes. On this basis, they are divided into two groups: resources of natural components and resources of natural-territorial complexes.

1. Resources of natural components. Each type of natural resource is usually formed in one of the components of the landscape envelope. It is controlled by the same natural factors that create this natural component and influence its characteristics and territorial location. According to their belonging to the components of the landscape shell, resources are distinguished: 1) mineral, 2) climatic, 3) water, 4) plant, 5) land, 6) soil, 7) animal world. This classification is widely used in domestic and foreign literature.

When using the above classification, the main attention is paid to the patterns of spatial and temporal formation of individual types of resources, their quantitative, qualitative characteristics, features of their regime, and the volume of natural replenishment of reserves. Scientific understanding of the entire complex of natural processes involved in the creation and accumulation of a natural resource makes it possible to more correctly calculate the role and place of a particular group of resources in the process of social production, the economic system, and most importantly, makes it possible to identify the maximum volumes of resource withdrawal from the natural environment, preventing its depletion or deterioration in quality. For example, an accurate idea of ​​the volume of annual wood growth in the forests of a certain area makes it possible to calculate permissible cutting rates. With strict control over compliance with these standards, depletion of forest resources does not occur.

2. Resources of natural-territorial complexes. At this level of subdivision, the complexity of the natural resource potential of the territory is taken into account, resulting from the corresponding complex structure of the landscape envelope itself. Each landscape (or natural-territorial complex) has a certain set of various types of natural resources. Depending on the properties of the landscape, its place in the overall structure of the landscape envelope, and the combination of types of resources, their quantitative and qualitative characteristics change very significantly, determining the possibilities for the development and organization of material production. Conditions often arise when one or several resources determine the direction of economic development of an entire region. Almost any landscape has climatic, water, land, soil and other resources, but the possibilities for economic use are very different. In one case, favorable conditions may arise for the extraction of mineral raw materials, in others - for the cultivation of valuable cultural plants or for the organization of industrial production, a resort complex, etc. On this basis, natural resource territorial complexes are distinguished according to the most preferred (or preferred) type of economic development. They are divided into: 1) mining, 2) agricultural, 3) water management, 4) forestry, 5) residential, 6) recreational, etc.

Using only one classification of types of resources by their origin is not enough, since it does not reflect the economic significance of resources and their economic role. Among the systems of classification of natural resources, reflecting their economic significance and role in the system of social production, classification according to the direction and forms of economic use of resources is more often used.

II. Classification by type of economic use. The main criterion for subdividing resources in this classification is their assignment to various sectors of material production. On this basis, natural resources are divided into resources of industrial and agricultural production.

1. Industrial production resources. This subgroup includes all types of natural raw materials used by industry. Due to the very large branching of industrial production, the presence of numerous industries that consume different types of natural resources and, accordingly, put forward different requirements for them. Types of natural resources are differentiated as follows:

1) energy, which include various types of resources used at the present stage of development of science and technology for energy production: a) fossil fuels (oil, coal, gas, uranium, bituminous shale, etc.); b) hydropower resources - the energy of freely falling river waters, tidal wave energy of sea waters, etc.; c) sources of bioconversion energy - the use of fuel wood, the production of biogas from agricultural waste; d) nuclear raw materials used to produce atomic energy;

2) non-energy, including a subgroup of natural resources that supply raw materials for various industries or participate in production due to technological necessity: a) minerals that do not belong to the group of caustobiolites; b) water used for industrial water supply; c) lands occupied by industrial facilities and infrastructure facilities; d) forest resources supplying raw materials for the wood chemicals and construction industry; e) fishery resources belong to this subgroup conditionally, since currently fish production and processing of the catch have become industrial in nature.

2. Agricultural production resources. They combine the types of resources involved in the creation of agricultural products: a) agroclimatic - resources of heat and moisture necessary for the production of cultivated plants or grazing; b) soil and land resources - land and its top layer - soil, which has the unique property of producing biomass, are considered both as a natural resource and as a means of production in crop production; c) plant feed resources - resources of biocenoses that serve as a food supply for grazing livestock; d) water resources - water used in crop production for irrigation, and in livestock farming - for watering and keeping livestock.

Quite often, natural resources of the non-productive sphere or direct consumption are also identified. These are, first of all, resources taken from the natural environment (wild animals that are subject to commercial hunting, wild medicinal plants), as well as recreational resources, resources of protected areas and a number of others.

Sh. Classification based on exhaustibility. When taking into account reserves of natural resources and the volume of their possible economic withdrawal, the idea of ​​exhaustibility of reserves is used. All natural resources are divided into two groups according to their exhaustibility: exhaustible and inexhaustible.

1. Exhaustible resources. They form in the earth's crust or landscape, but the volumes and rates of their formation are measured on a geological time scale. At the same time, the need for such resources from production or for organizing favorable living conditions for human society significantly exceeds the volumes and rates of natural replenishment. As a result, depletion of natural resources inevitably occurs. The group of exhaustible resources includes resources with unequal rates and volumes of formation. This allows for further differentiation. Based on the intensity and speed of natural formation, resources are divided into subgroups:

1. Non-renewable, which include: a) all types of mineral resources or minerals. As is known, they are constantly formed in the depths of the earth’s crust as a result of the continuously ongoing process of ore formation, but the scale of their accumulation is so insignificant, and the rates of formation are measured in many tens and hundreds of millions of years (for example, the age of coal is more than 350 million years), which is practically they cannot be taken into account in business calculations. The development of mineral raw materials occurs on a historical time scale and is characterized by ever-increasing volumes of withdrawal. In this regard, all mineral resources are considered not only exhaustible, but also non-renewable. b) Land resources in their natural form are the material basis on which the life of human society takes place. The morphological structure of the surface (i.e., relief) significantly influences economic activity and the possibility of developing the territory. Once disturbed lands (for example, by quarries) during large-scale industrial or civil construction are no longer restored in their natural form.

2. Renewable resources, which include: a) resources of flora and b) fauna. Both are restored quite quickly, and the volumes of natural renewal are well and accurately calculated. Therefore, when organizing the economic use of accumulated reserves of wood in forests, grass in meadows or pastures, and hunting wild animals within limits not exceeding annual renewal, resource depletion can be completely avoided.

3. Relatively (not completely) renewable. Although some resources are restored over historical periods of time, their renewable volumes are significantly less than the volumes of economic consumption. That is why these types of resources turn out to be very vulnerable and require especially careful control by humans. Relatively renewable resources also include very scarce natural resources: a) productive arable soils; b) forests with mature tree stands; c) water resources from a regional perspective. There are relatively few productive arable soils (according to various estimates, their area does not exceed 1.5-2.5 billion hectares). The most productive soils, belonging to the first fertility class, occupy, according to FAO estimates, only 400 million hectares. Productive soils form extremely slowly - it takes more than 100 years to form a 1 mm layer, for example, chernozem soils. At the same time, processes of accelerated erosion, stimulated by irrational land use, can destroy several centimeters of the upper, most valuable arable layer in one year. Anthropogenic soil destruction has been occurring so intensely in recent decades that it gives grounds to classify soil resources as “relatively renewable.”

The fact of the practical inexhaustibility of water resources on a planetary scale is well known. However, on the land surface, fresh water reserves are unevenly concentrated, and over vast areas there is a shortage of water suitable for use in water management systems. Arid and subarid areas suffer especially greatly from water shortages, where irrational water consumption (for example, water intake in volumes exceeding the volume of natural replenishment of free water) is accompanied by rapid and often catastrophic depletion of water supplies. Therefore, it is necessary to accurately account for the amount of permissible withdrawal of water resources by region. P. Inexhaustible resources. Among the bodies and natural phenomena of resource significance, there are those that are practically inexhaustible. These include climatic and water resources.

A) climate resources. The most stringent requirements for climate are imposed by agriculture, recreational and forestry, industrial and civil construction, etc. Usually, climate resources are understood as the reserves of heat and moisture that a specific area or region has. Total heat reserves received per year per 1 sq.m. surface of the planet are equal to 3.16 x 10 J (radiation budget on average for the planet). Heat is distributed unevenly geographically and across seasons, although the average air temperature for the Earth is approximately + 15°C. The land as a whole is well supplied with atmospheric moisture: an average of about 119 thousand cubic meters falls on its surface annually. km of precipitation. But they are distributed even more unevenly than heat, both spatially and temporally. On land there are known areas that receive more than 12,000 mm of precipitation annually, and vast areas where less than 50-100 mm falls per year. On average, long-term, both heat reserves and volumes of falling atmospheric moisture are quite constant, although significant fluctuations in the provision of heat and moisture to the territory may be observed from year to year. Since these resources are formed in certain parts of the thermal and water cycles, constantly operating over the planet as a whole and over its individual regions, the reserves of heat and moisture can be considered inexhaustible within certain quantitative limits, precisely established for each region.

B) Water resources of the planet. The earth has a colossal volume of water - about 1.5 billion cubic meters. km. However, 98% of this volume is the salty waters of the World Ocean, and only 28 million cubic meters. km - fresh waters. Since technologies for desalination of salty sea waters are already known, the waters of the World Ocean and salt lakes can be considered as potential water resources, the use of which in the future is quite possible. Annually renewable reserves of fresh water are not so large; according to various estimates, they range from 41 to 45 thousand cubic km (full river flow resources). The world economy spends about 4-4.5 thousand cubic km for its needs, which is equal to approximately 10% of the total water supply, and, therefore, subject to the principles of rational water use, these resources can be considered as inexhaustible. However, if these principles are violated, the situation can sharply worsen, and even on a planetary scale, there may be a shortage of clean fresh water. In the meantime, the natural environment annually “gives” humanity 10 times more water than it needs to satisfy a wide variety of needs.

2. The problem of exhaustibility of natural resources

Exhaustible resources are those, the volume of which can be determined and limited with a certain degree of accuracy, the reserves of which, as they are exploited, have decreased to such an extent that their further exploitation threatens their complete disappearance. In turn, exhaustible resources are divided into renewable and non-renewable natural resources. Renewable natural resources include those that can be restored either by the forces of nature themselves (naturally) or with the help of purposeful human activity, but only if the conditions and rate of restoration for this are maintained. Renewable resources usually include: land (elements of soil fertility), water (fresh underground water in the zone of active water exchange) and biological (forests, natural feeding grounds, land, aquatic fauna, flora and fauna, etc.).

Non-renewable natural resources primarily include most minerals (fossil fuels, metallic and non-metallic minerals), the species composition of plants and animals, i.e. that part of natural resources that cannot be regenerated or restored in the foreseeable future. These types of resources are taken into account and evaluated specifically, the availability of them for production is determined at a particular level of their extraction and use, as well as the possibility of replacement. Available reserves of non-renewable resources should be used especially carefully and economically.

3. The sphere of use of natural resources and the problem of environmental pollution

The basis for the interaction between the natural environment and human society in the process of production of material goods is the increase in mediation in the production relationship of man to nature. Step by step, man places between himself and nature, first the substance transformed with the help of his energy (tools of labor), then the energy transformed with the help of tools and accumulated knowledge (steam engines, electrical installations, etc.) and, finally, more recently, between between man and nature, a third major link of mediation arises - information transformed with the help of electronic computers. Thus, the development of civilization is ensured by the continuous expansion of the sphere of material production, which first covers tools, then energy and, finally, most recently, information. natural resource pollution environmental

Naturally, the natural environment becomes increasingly and thoroughly involved in the production process. The need for conscious control and regulation of the entire set of anthropogenic processes, both in society itself and in the natural environment, is becoming more acute. This need has increased especially sharply with the beginning of the scientific and technological revolution, the essence of which is, first of all, the mechanization of information processes and the widespread use of control systems in all areas of public life.

It is no coincidence that the danger of an environmental crisis coincided with the scientific and technological revolution. The scientific and technological revolution creates conditions for the removal of technical restrictions in the use of natural resources. As a result of the removal of internal restrictions on the development of production, a new contradiction took on an exceptionally acute form - between the internally limitless possibilities for the development of production and the naturally limited possibilities of the natural environment. This contradiction, like those that arose earlier, can only be resolved if the natural living conditions of society are increasingly covered by artificial means of regulation by people.

Measures to update production technology, waste treatment, noise control, etc., which are now being organized in developed countries, only delay the onset of a catastrophe, but are not able to prevent it, since they do not eliminate the root causes of the environmental crisis.

The ecological content of the scientific and technological revolution and its contradiction are also manifested in the fact that during its deployment, the necessary technical prerequisites arise to ensure a new nature of attitude towards nature (the possibility of switching production to closed cycles, the transition to machine-free production, the possibility of efficient use of energy up to the creation technical autotrophic systems, etc.).

Along with the numerous advantages inherent in industrial societies, they are characterized by both the emergence of new and the aggravation of existing environmental and resource problems. Based on the scale of their distribution, these problems that threaten human well-being can be divided into:

Local: contamination of groundwater with toxic substances,

Regional: damage to forests and degradation of lakes as a result of atmospheric deposition of pollutants,

Global: possible climate changes due to an increase in carbon dioxide and other gaseous substances in the atmosphere, as well as depletion of the ozone layer.

The combined effects of intensive agriculture, increased mining and urbanization have greatly increased the degradation of potentially renewable resources - topsoil, forests, grasslands, and wildlife populations. Let us remember that exactly the same reasons led to the death of ancient civilizations.

Industrialization greatly increased the power of people over nature and at the same time decreased the number of people living in direct contact with it. As a result, people, especially in industrialized countries, became even more convinced that their destiny was to conquer nature. Many serious scientists are convinced that as long as this mentality persists, the Earth’s life support systems will continue to collapse.

Conclusion

The logic of the development of life on Earth determines human activity as the main factor, and nature can exist without humans, but humans cannot exist without nature. Preserving the harmony of man and nature is the main task facing the present generation. This requires a change in many previously established ideas about the comparison of human values. It is necessary to develop an “ecological consciousness” in every person, which will determine the choice of technology options, the construction of enterprises and the use of natural resources.

Man, as a social being, initially had two types of needs: biological (physiological) and social (material and spiritual). Some are satisfied as a result of labor costs for the production of food, material and spiritual values, while others are accustomed to being satisfied for free; these are the needs for water, air, solar energy, etc. Let's call the latter environmental, and the former socio-economic needs. Human society cannot refuse to use natural resources. They have always been and will be the material basis of production, the meaning of which is the transformation of various natural resources into consumer goods. The issue of “greening” consumption can be approached from different positions: physiological, moral, social, economic. For any society, managing the value orientation of consumption is one of the most difficult social tasks. Currently, civilization is experiencing a crucial period of its existence, when habitual stereotypes are being broken, when it comes to understanding that the satisfaction of the countless demands of modern man comes into sharp conflict with the fundamental needs of everyone - the preservation of a healthy living environment. The difficulties generated by the development of civilization, the growing degradation of the natural environment and the deterioration of people's living conditions give rise to the need to act and look for new concepts of social development.

Bibliography

Bigon M. Ecology. - M.: Mir, 2003.

Kormilitsyn M. S. Fundamentals of ecology. - M.: MPU, 2002.

Vorontsov A.I., Shchetinsky E.A., Nikodimov I.D. Nature conservation. - M.: Agropromizdat, 2004.

Makevnin S.G., Vakulin A.A. Nature conservation. - M.: Agropromizdat, 2002.

Ecology and environmental management. Textbook / Ed. Aleskina A.A. - M.: Infra-M, 2003.

Ecology. Textbook. E.A. Kriksunov. - M.: Infra-M, 2005.

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One of the most important renewable natural resources on our planet is water. Nature constantly receives this resource in large quantities due to annual precipitation.

As for oxygen, there is also no need to worry about its renewability yet. Oxygen is mainly produced through photosynthesis in plants. By the way, people consume only about ten percent of the oxygen from the entire composition.

Biological resources

Biological resources include the sum of plant and animal mass throughout the planet. Human impact on this category of resources has long led to the extinction of many species of animals and plants. If this continues, in about 70 years the negative side of this process will be felt.

Renewable resources include higher and lower green plants, as well as heterotrophic living organisms, that is, fungi and animals. Heterotrophic organisms obtain energy and food from plants and are therefore grouped together as renewable resources.

The main feature of green plants should be considered autotrophy. Simply put, plants are able to create organic substances from inorganic compounds when exposed to solar energy. This process is commonly called photosynthesis. Thanks to this, plants create about 98 percent of the organic mass in the biosphere. It turns out that it is plants that create normal conditions for the reproduction and life of heterotrophic organisms.

Biomass now ranks sixth among other energy sources in terms of reserves after oil and natural gas. In terms of productivity, biological resources occupy fifth place, behind solar, wind, geo and hydrothermal energy. Biomass is also the largest natural resource used in the world economy.

Relatively renewable resources

Renewable volumes of some resources are much lower than economic consumption. Therefore, such resources are especially vulnerable. They must be carefully supervised by humans. Relatively renewable resources include: arable soils, water resources in the regional aspect, forests with mature stands.

For example, productive people are very slow. And constant processes of erosion, accelerated by irrational land use, inevitably lead to the destruction of the valuable arable layer. Several centimeters of soil can be destroyed in one year.

Water resources on a planetary scale are practically inexhaustible. But fresh water reserves are unevenly distributed on the land surface. Because of this, some vast areas are experiencing catastrophic water shortages. Also, irrational water consumption leads to constant depletion of water supplies.

Conditionally renewable resources include soil resources, sometimes identified with land resources, and groundwater resources. Land is considered a conditionally renewable natural resource, since the soil, which is the basis of its fertility, can reproduce itself, but the period of its formation lasts hundreds and thousands of years. The land itself, considered as a surface, can be classified as a territorial resource, which is a space that has a set of certain properties, considered in the form of conditions of life and production and used for various activities. The land, as a natural space or territory, due to its limitations, has a certain value, depending on its filling with both embodied resources and natural objects, and properties and phenomena.

Depending on the functional focus of human activity, the same natural space can be used in different ways. For example, a forest plot can be used for timber harvesting, hunting, livestock grazing, and people's recreation. The same area of ​​forest can also be used for environmental purposes if the forest growing on it protects water sources from depletion. The multi-purpose nature of land use is its distinctive feature. The main types of land use are development, agriculture and forestry, hunting, mining, recreation and preservation of natural areas and ecosystems in an undisturbed state.

Natural resources can be used as:

  • - means of labor (land, waterways, water for irrigation);
  • - energy sources (fuel reserves, hydropower, geothermal energy, nuclear fuel, etc.);
  • - raw materials (minerals, wood, water used for technical needs);
  • - consumer goods (drinking water, medicinal mud and mineral waters, wild plants, mushrooms, animals, aquatic biological resources, etc.);
  • - places of rest and treatment;
  • - objects of scientific study (materials for pharmaceuticals, cosmetology; genetic resources used in breeding, etc.);
  • - resources that provide ecosystem services and maintain ecological balance and acceptable environmental quality (preventing erosion, climate mitigation, regulating water regime, etc.).

Natural resources are an important part of a country's national wealth and a source of wealth and services. The process of reproduction is essentially a continuous process of interaction between society and nature, in which society subjugates the forces of nature and natural resources to satisfy needs. Natural resources largely determine not only the socio-economic potential of the country and region and the efficiency of social production, but also the health and life expectancy of the population.

The main components of natural resources are:

Water resources are water reserves used as a source of water supply for industrial and domestic needs, hydropower, as well as transport routes, etc.

Land resources - resources used or intended for use in agriculture, for buildings in populated areas, for railways and highways, as well as other structures, for nature reserves, parks, squares, etc., occupied by minerals, etc.

Forest resources - raw materials (used to obtain wood), as well as forests for various purposes - recreational (sanitary and resort), field - and forest protection, water conservation, etc.

Mineral resources are all natural components of the lithosphere used or intended for use in the production of products and services as mineral raw materials in their natural form or after preparation, enrichment and processing (iron, manganese, chromium, lead, etc.) or energy sources.

Energy resources are the totality of all types of energy: sun and space, nuclear energy, fuel and energy (in the form of mineral reserves), thermal, hydropower, wind energy, etc.

Biological resources are all living environment-forming components of the biosphere with genetic material contained in them. They are sources for people to receive material and spiritual benefits. These include commercial objects (fish stocks in natural and artificial reservoirs), cultivated plants, domestic animals, picturesque landscapes, microorganisms, i.e. This includes plant resources, animal resources (stocks of fur-bearing animals in natural conditions; stocks reproduced under artificial conditions), etc.

When taking into account reserves of natural resources and the volume of their possible economic withdrawal, the idea of ​​exhaustibility of reserves is used. All natural resources are divided into two groups: exhaustible and inexhaustible.

Exhaustible resources are those, the volume of which can be determined and limited with a certain degree of accuracy, the reserves of which, as they are exploited, have decreased to such an extent that their further exploitation threatens their complete disappearance. As a result, depletion of natural resources inevitably occurs. In turn, exhaustible resources are divided into renewable and non-renewable natural resources. Renewable natural resources include those that can be restored either by the forces of nature themselves (naturally) or with the help of purposeful human activity, but only if the conditions and rate of restoration for this are maintained. Renewable resources usually include: land (elements of soil fertility), water (fresh underground water in the zone of active water exchange) and biological (forests, natural feeding grounds, land, aquatic fauna, flora and fauna, etc.).

Inexhaustible natural resources are divided into space, climate and water. This is the energy of solar radiation, sea waves, and wind. Taking into account the huge mass of air and water on the planet, atmospheric air and water are considered inexhaustible. Selection is relative. For example, fresh water can be considered a finite resource, since many regions of the globe have experienced acute water shortages.)

3. Energy resources. Features of the impact of energy on the natural environment

An energy resource (or energy resource) is a carrier of energy, the energy of which is used or can be used in carrying out economic and other activities, as well as a type of energy (nuclear, thermal, electric, electromagnetic energy or other type of energy). Classification of energy resources:

  • 1. Primary energy resources are energy of natural origin (natural fuel, water energy, solar and wind energy, etc.)
  • 2. Secondary energy resources are energy generated as a result of processing or transformation of various types of fuel, as well as as a result of production processes (petroleum products, waste steam, waste heat, saved energy, etc.)
  • 3. Fuel energy resources are the energy of various types of fuel (hard and brown coal, oil, combustible gases, oil shale, peat, firewood and other types)
  • 4. Non-fuel energy resource is energy generated without the participation of fuel (electrical energy, electromagnetic energy, solar energy, etc.)
  • 5. A renewable energy resource is a resource whose supply is continuously renewed by nature (solar energy, water energy, tidal energy, geothermal energy, thermal energy of the earth, air, water, biomass and other types)
  • 6. A non-renewable energy resource is a resource whose reserves are fundamentally exhaustible (mineral fuel, uranium, etc.)

Impact of energy on the environment

The impact of energy on the environment is very diverse and is determined mainly by the type of energy installations.

Let's consider the main features of the environmental impact of traditional power plants:

1. The environmental impact of thermal power plants depends on the fuel used. When solid fuel is burned, fly ash with particles that do not reach the burned fuel, sulfur dioxide and black anhydride, nitrogen oxides, and fluoride compounds enter the atmosphere.

When liquid fuel is reduced, sulfur dioxide and sulfuric anhydride, vanadium compounds, sodium salts and also substances removed from the surface of boilers during cleaning enter into the atmospheric air with flue gases.

When natural gas is burned, the main atmospheric pollutant is nitrogen oxides.

Output 1 million kW/h of electricity at thermal power plants is accompanied by the release of 10 tons of ash and 15 tons of sulfur dioxide.

2. For the construction of large thermal power plants, on average, an area of ​​about 2.3 km² is required, not counting ash dumps and cooling reservoirs, and taking them into account, 3-4 km². In this area, the terrain, the structure of the soil layer and the ecological balance are changing.

Large cooling towers significantly moisten the microclimate in the station area, promote the formation of low clouds, fog, reduce solar illumination, cause drizzle, and in winter, frost and ice. Thermal power plants discharge a large amount of heat into reservoirs, increase the water temperature and affect the shape and environment of reservoirs.

  • 3. For hydroelectric power stations it is necessary to build reservoirs, which leads to the flooding of vast areas. The structure of the heat balance of the coastal areas of reservoirs and the water surface itself, which affects the air temperature on the coast, differs by season and time of day and depends on the surface area, depth of the reservoir and the nature of air currents in this zone. Therefore, issues of the environmental impact of hydroelectric power plants on the environment should be a critical aspect of the pre-project analysis.
  • 4. There are different opinions on the issue of the impact of nuclear power plants on the environment. However, there is no doubt that the operation of nuclear power plants can significantly reduce the level of environmental pollution by components characteristic of the operation of thermal stations (CO, SO2, NOx, etc.).

The main factors of environmental pollution here are radiation indicators: activated dust particles entering through ventilation ducts outside the station. Radiation from cooling water, radiation penetrating through the reactor vessel, thermal effects on cooling water and, of course, waste disposal.

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