Types of Natural Resources
NCERT Class 10 • Contemporary India II • Chapter "Resources and Development" | NCERT Class 9 • Science • Chapter "Natural Resources"
Types of Natural Resources
A resource is anything in the environment that can be used to satisfy a human need and that is technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally acceptable. Nothing is a resource by itself; it becomes one when people find a way to use it.
Classification of Resources
- On the basis of origin, resources are biotic, from living things, and abiotic, from non living things.
- On the basis of exhaustibility, resources are renewable, which can be replenished, and non renewable, which take millions of years to form.
- Renewable resources include solar energy, wind, water, forests and wildlife.
- Non renewable resources include coal, petroleum, natural gas and most minerals.
- Even a renewable resource can be exhausted if it is used faster than it regenerates, as with groundwater and forest.
- On the basis of ownership, resources are individual, community, national and international.
- On the basis of development, a potential resource is present but not yet used, while a developed resource is already in use.
Resource Planning and Sustainable Use
- Resource planning matters because resources are distributed very unevenly across the country.
- Some states are rich in minerals but poor in water; others have fertile soil but no mineral base.
- Planning involves identifying resources, building the technology and institutions to use them, and matching resource use with development plans.
- Unplanned use has led to depletion, accumulation of waste and degradation of land and water.
- Sustainable use means meeting present needs without reducing the ability of future generations to meet theirs.
- Reduce, reuse and recycle is the practical everyday form of this principle.
- The Rio Earth Summit of 1992 and Agenda 21 placed sustainable resource use at the centre of global policy.
| Basis | Categories | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Origin | Biotic, abiotic | Forest, minerals |
| Exhaustibility | Renewable, non renewable | Solar energy, coal |
| Ownership | Individual, community, national | Farm, village pond, minerals |
| Development | Potential, developed | Unused wind sites, working mine |
Potential resource — a resource that exists in a region but has not yet been used.
Hindi me samjhein
कोई वस्तु स्वयं संसाधन नहीं होती; वह तब संसाधन बनती है जब लोग उसका उपयोग करने का ढंग खोज लें। इसीलिए तकनीक बदलने पर वही वस्तु नया संसाधन बन जाती है।
Exam me kaise aata hai
- Coal and petroleum are which type of resource — non renewable
- A resource present but not yet used is called — potential
- Resources from living things are called — biotic
- Sustainable use protects the ability of — future generations
UPSC/State PSC ke liye
- A renewable resource is only renewable at a given rate of use; groundwater withdrawn faster than recharge behaves exactly like a non renewable one.
- Technology changes what counts as a resource, which is why the same land or mineral can be worthless in one period and valuable in the next.
Yahan confuse hote hain
✗ Renewable resources can never be exhausted | They can be, if used faster than they regenerate | ✓
✗ Everything in nature is a resource | It becomes a resource only when it can be used | ✓
✗ Potential and developed resources are the same | Potential is not yet used; developed is already in use | ✓
Ek nazar me
- A resource is anything usable to meet a human need.
- Classification by origin, exhaustibility, ownership and development.
- Renewable resources can still be exhausted by overuse.
- Sustainable use protects the ability of future generations to meet their needs.