What is Natural resource?
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2021}} [[Image:Windmills D1-D4 - Thornton Bank.jpg|thumb|150px|The natural resource of wind drives these 5MW wind turbines on a [[wind farm]] in [[Belgium]]]] A '''natural resource''' is what people can use from the [[natural environment]]. Examples of natural resources are [[air]], [[water]], [[wood]], [[Crude oil|oil]], [[wind energy]], [[natural gas]], [[iron]], [[mineral]] and [[coal]]. The dividing line between natural resources and man-made resources is not clear-cut. [[Hydro-electric energy]] is not a natural resource because people use [[turbine]]s and generators to convert the energy of moving water to [[electric current]]. [[Petroleum]] and [[ore]]<nowiki/>s are natural, but need work to make them into usable refined oil and [[metal]]<nowiki/>s. [[Atomic energy]] comes from metallic [[nuclear fuel]], like fissionable [[uranium]] and [[plutonium]], but rocks need technical work to make them into these [[Nuclear fuel|nuclear fuels]]. == Supply == We often say there are two sorts of natural resources: renewable resources and non-renewable resources. *A [[renewable resource]] is one that can be used again and again. For example, [[soil]], [[sunlight]] and [[water]] are renewable resources. However, in some circumstances, even water is not renewable easily. Wood is a renewable resource, but it takes time to renew, and in some places, people use the land for something else. Soil, if it blows away, is not easy to renew. *A [[non-renewable resource]] is a resource that does not grow and come back or a resource that would take a very long time to come back. For example, [[coal]] is a non-renewable resource. When we use coal, there is less coal afterward. The non-renewable resource can be used directly (for example, burning oil to cook), or we can find a renewable resource to use (for example, using wind energy to make [[electricity]] to cook). [[File: Flooded cropland in southwest Iowa.jpg|thumb|Soil, a natural resource for [[farming]].]] Most natural resources are limited.