Home > Natural resource

Natural resources are commodities that are considered valuable in their relatively unmodified ( natural) form. A commodity is generally considered a natural resource when the primary activities associated with it are extraction and purification, as opposed to creation. Thus, mining, oil extraction, fishing, and forestry are generally considered natural-resource industries, while farming is not.

Natural resources are often classified into renewable and non-renewable resources. Renewable resources are generally living resources (fish, coffee, and forests, for example), which can restock (renew) themselves at approximately the rate at which they are extracted, if they are not overharvest ed. Non-living renewable natural resources include soil, as well as water, wind, tides and solar radiation — compare with renewable energy.

Mineral resources are generally non-renewable and, once a site's non-renewable resource is exhausted, it is considered to be useless for future extraction, barring technological improvements that allow economic extraction from the tailings.

Both extraction of the basic resource and refiningRefining is the process of purification of a substance, usually used of a natural resource that is almost in a usable form, but which is more useful in its pure form. For instance, most types of natural petroleum will burn straight from the ground, but it it into a purer, directly usable form, (e.g., metalFor alternative meanings see metal (disambiguation). In chemistry, a metal is an element that readily forms cations and has metallic bonds, and it is sometimes said that it is similar to a cation in a cloud of electrons. The metals are one of the three grs, refined oils) are generally considered natural-resource activities, even though the latter may not necessarily occur near the former.

See also: fishAtlantic herring, Clupea harengus one of the most abundant species in the world Photo A fish is a poikilothermic (cold-blooded) water-dwelling vertebrate with gills. There are over 27,000 species of fish, making them the most diverse group of vertebrates., woodThis article describes the wood that comprises trees and boards. For the Chinese element, see wood (classical element). For the town, see Wood, South Dakota or Wood, Wisconsin. For the type of golf club, see golf club (equipment). Veluwe, The Netherlands, metalFor alternative meanings see metal (disambiguation). In chemistry, a metal is an element that readily forms cations and has metallic bonds, and it is sometimes said that it is similar to a cation in a cloud of electrons. The metals are one of the three gr, minerals, List of mineralsThis page is intended as a list of all minerals. Sorted by name: External Links A Abelsonite Abenakiite-(Ce) Abichite (not a valid species) Actinolite Agate (not a valid species variety of quartz) Alabaster (not a valid species variety of gypsum or calcit, petroleumNodding donkey pumping an oil well near Sarnia, Ontario, 2001 Petroleum (from Latin petrus rock and oleum oil), mineral oil or crude oil sometimes colloquially called black gold is a thick, dark brown or greenish flammable liquid, which exists in the uppe, mining, refining, prospecting, environment, land, soil