Finite resources

• Finite resources from the Earth's crust, oceans and atmosphere will one day run out.

• They can be processed to provide energy and useful materials. Renewable resources are those which will not run out in the foreseeable future.

Extracting finite resources

• One of the most important finite resources in the crust is crude oil.

  • Crude oil is processed through fractional distillation and cracking to produce a wide variety of useful chemicals.

  • Sea water is a renewable resource because there is such a large amount of it that humans will not use it all up.

• Sometimes natural products can be supplemented or replaced by agricultural and synthetic products.

  • For example, until 1910 all fertilisers were obtained from natural resources such as manure.

• However, the Haber process enabled humans to produce fertilisers from nitrogen in the air, and has allowed synthetic fertilisers to be produced.

• Synthetic fertilisers have allowed intensive farming to become widespread, which has meant that we can produce enough food to support the growing world population