A List of Non-Renewable Resources That Are Outside

Oil

• Oil, a fossil fuel also known as petroleum, is the result of millions of years of plant and animal decay, fueled by pressure and heat. Oil is found beneath the Earth̵7;s crust, underneath both land and water. Today, the majority of mined oil is refined into gasoline and diesel. Many products, including ink, deodorant and tires, are also created from oil. Oil releases energy when it is burned. Oil is considered a nonrenewable energy source because it takes millions of years to create it.

Natural Gas

• Natural gas is a colorless, odorless gas composed primarily of methane and is a second type of fossil fuel. The remaining 10 to 30 percent of natural gas is composed of ethane, propane, butane, carbon dioxide and oxygen. Natural gas forms in a similar manner to petroleum. It is the converted remains of plant and animal life that lived millions of years ago, and is found beneath the surface of the Earth, usually sitting on top of a layer of oil. In the United States, 21.7 percent of consumed natural gas is used in the home, 14 percent is used for commercial applications, 25 percent is used for power and 31.8 percent is used in industry. Just 0.1 percent of natural gas is used in automobiles. Like oil, energy is released from natural gas when it is burned. Natural gas is a nonrenewable energy source because it takes millions of years to replace once it has been exhausted.

Coal

• Coal, another fossil fuel, is a dark-colored solid formed over millions of years from decayed plant matter, and it has been used in the United States since the 1600s. It is found as deep as 1,000 feet below the surface. In 2010, 91.9 percent of coal mined was used to generate electricity. 7.8 percent of mined coal was used in industry, and just 0.3 percent was used for heating. Like natural gas and oil, coal is a nonrenewable energy source because it takes millions of year to form.

Uranium

• Uranium is a fourth type nonrenewable energy source found naturally in the environment. It is a heavy metal mined primarily for nuclear power generation. Nuclear power harnesses the energy release from nuclear fission -- the splitting of an atom. Uranium-235 is the preferred isotope in nuclear energy. Unfortunately, just 0.7 percent of natural uranium is uranium-235. Still, uranium-238, another more common isotope of uranium, is found in significant concentrations in nuclear fuel. Today, nuclear power from uranium provides 11 percent of the world̵7;s energy. Nuclear power, despite being a more complex technology, costs about the same as electricity from coal. Uranium is a nonrenewable energy source because it cannot be recreated naturally. Once it has been used, it is gone forever.

Non-Renewable Metals

• Today's economy relies heavily on a number of non-renewable metals found in nature. Iron, chromium, nickel and manganese, four such non-renewable metals, are used extensively in steel production. Copper, another important non-renewable metal, is used to create copper wires to transmit electricity, and lead is an important component in batteries. Zinc, another non-renewable metal is used to prevent metal corrosion, and tin is a vital component in many of today's electronics. These metals are non-renewable. Once they have been mined and exhausted, they cannot be replaced.