A NON-RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES

Type of Where it is from Advantages Disadvantages fuel

Coal  Formed from  Ready-made fuel. When burned coal gives (fossil fossilised plants and It is relatively off atmospheric fuel) consisting of carbon cheap to mine pollutants, including with various organic and to convert greenhouse gases. and some inorganic into energy. compounds.  Coal supplies will  Mined from seams last longer than of coal, found oil or gas. sandwiched between layers of rock in the earth.  Burnt to provide heat or electricity.

Oil  A carbon-based  Oil is a ready-  When burned, it gives off (fossil liquid formed from made fuel. atmospheric pollutants, fuel) fossilised animals.  Relatively cheap including greenhouse  Lakes of oil are to extract and to gases. sandwiched convert into  Only a limited supply. between seams of energy. rock in the earth.  Pipes are sunk down to the reservoirs to pump the oil out.  Widely used in industry and transport.

Natural  Methane and some Gas is a ready-  When burned, it gives off gas other gases trapped made fuel. atmospheric pollutants, (fossil between seams of  It is a relatively including greenhouse fuel) rock under the cheap form of gases. earth's surface. energy.  Only limited supply of  Pipes are sunk into It's a slightly gas. the ground to cleaner fuel than release the gas. coal and oil. Type of Where it is from Advantages Disadvantages fuel

 Often used in A houses for heating and cooking.

Nuclear  Radioactive  A small amount  Nuclear reactors are minerals such as of radioactive expensive to run. uranium are mined. material  Nuclear waste is highly  Electricity is produces a lot of toxic, and needs to be generated from the energy. safely stored for energy that is  Raw materials hundreds or thousands of released when the are relatively years (storage is atoms of these cheap and can extremely expensive). minerals are split last quite a long  Leakage of nuclear (by nuclear fission) time. materials can have a in nuclear reactors. It doesn't give off devastating impact on atmospheric people and the pollutants. environment. The worst nuclear reactor accident was atChernobyl, Ukraine in 1986.

Biomass Biomass energy is  It is a cheap and When burned, it gives off generated from readily available atmospheric pollutants, decaying plant or source of energy. including greenhouse animal waste.  If the crops are gases. If crops are not  It can also be an replaced, replanted, biomass is a organic material biomass can be a non-renewable resource. which is burned to long-term, provide energy, eg sustainable heat, or electricity. energy source.  An example of biomass energy is oilseed rape (yellow flowers you see in the UK in summer), which produces oil.  After treatment with chemicals it can be used as a fuel in diesel engines.

Wood  Obtained from  A cheap and  When burned it gives off felling trees, burned readily available atmospheric pollutants, to generate heat source of energy. including greenhouse and light.  If the trees are gases. replaced, wood Type of Where it is from Advantages Disadvantages fuel

burning can be a If trees are not long-term, replanted wood is a sustainable non-renewable resource. energy source. A How long will fossil fuels last? Estimates from international organisations suggest that if the world's demand for energy from fossil fuels continues at the present rate that oil and gas reserves may run out within some of our lifetimes. Coal is expected to last longer.

Estimated length of time left for fossil fuels

Fossil fuel Time left

Oil 50 years

Natural gas 70 years

Coal 250 years

 Wood can be used for fuel and is renewable if trees are replanted.  Biomass, which is material from living things, can be renewable if plants are replanted.