Editing Non-renewable resource (section)

== Renewable resources ==
{{Main|Renewable resource}}
{{Further|Renewable energy|Recycling}}
[[File:ThreeGorgesDam-China2009.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Three Gorges Dam]], the largest renewable energy generating station in the world.]]
[[Natural resource]]s, known as renewable resources, are replaced by [[Natural phenomenon|natural processes and forces]] persistent in the [[natural environment]]. There are [[Intermittent energy source|intermittent]] and reoccurring renewables, and [[Recycling|recyclable material]]s, which are utilized during a [[Biogeochemical cycle|cycle]] across a certain amount of time, and can be harnessed for any number of cycles.

The production of goods and services by [[manufacturing]] [[Product (business)|product]]s in [[economic system]]s creates many [[List of waste types|types of waste]] during production and after the [[consumer]] has made use of it. The material is then either [[Incineration|incinerated]], buried in a [[landfill]] or [[recycled]] for reuse.  Recycling turns materials of value that would otherwise become waste into valuable resources again.
[[File:ThreeGorgesDam-Landsat7.jpg|thumb|Satellite map showing areas flooded by the Three Gorges reservoir. Compare 7 November 2006 (above) with 17 April 1987 (below). The energy station required the flooding of [[archaeological]] and cultural sites and displaced some 1.3&nbsp;million people, and is causing significant [[ecological]] changes, including an increased risk of [[landslide]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://unn.people.com.cn/GB/9105724.html |title=重庆云阳长江右岸现360万方滑坡险情-地方-人民网 |work=People's Daily  |access-date=2009-08-01}} See also: {{cite web |url= http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2009-04/09/content_11157017.htm |title=探访三峡库区云阳故陵滑坡险情 |publisher=News.xinhuanet.com |access-date=2009-08-01}}</ref> The dam has been a controversial topic both domestically and abroad.<ref name="controversy">{{cite magazine |author=Lin Yang |title=China's Three Gorges Dam Under Fire |url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1671000,00.html |magazine=Time |date=2007-10-12 |access-date=2009-03-28 |quote=The giant Three Gorges Dam across China's Yangtze River has been mired in controversy ever since it was first proposed }} See also: {{cite news |last=Laris |first=Michael |title=Untamed Waterways Kill Thousands Yearly |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/china/stories/death081798.htm |newspaper=The Washington Post|date=1998-08-17 |access-date=2009-03-28 |quote=Officials now use the deadly history of the Yangtze, China's longest river, to justify the country's riskiest and most controversial infrastructure project&nbsp;– the enormous Three Gorges Dam. }} and {{cite news |last=Grant |first=Stan |title=Global Challenges: Ecological and Technological Advances Around the World |url=https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/gc/date/2005-06-18/segment/01 |publisher=CNN|date=2005-06-18 |access-date=2009-03-28 |quote=China's engineering marvel is unleashing a torrent of criticism. [...] When it comes to global challenges, few are greater or more controversial than the construction of the massive Three Gorges Dam in Central China. }} and {{cite news |last=Gerin |first=Roseanne |title=Rolling on a River |url=http://www.bjreview.com.cn/eye/txt/2008-12/06/content_168792.htm |work=Beijing Review |date=2008-12-11 |access-date=2009-03-28 |quote=..the 180-billion yuan ($26.3&nbsp;billion) Three Gorges Dam project has been highly contentious. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090922231347/http://www.bjreview.com.cn/eye/txt/2008-12/06/content_168792.htm |archive-date=22 September 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>]]

In the natural environment [[water]], [[forest]]s, [[plant]]s and [[animal]]s are all renewable resources, as long as they are adequately [[Conservation biology|monitored, protected and conserved]]. [[Sustainable agriculture]] is the cultivation of plant and animal materials in a manner that preserves plant and animal [[ecosystem]]s and that can improve [[soil health]] and [[soil fertility]] over the long term. The [[overfishing]] of the oceans is one example of where an industry practice or method can threaten an ecosystem, endanger [[endangered species|species]] and possibly even determine whether or not a [[fishery]] is sustainable for use by humans. An unregulated industry practice or method can lead to a complete [[resource depletion]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing in Small-Scale Marine and Inland Capture Fisharies|url=http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/005/Y3274E/y3274e09.htm|publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization|access-date=2012-02-04}}</ref>
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The renewable energy from the [[sun]], [[wind]], [[surface wave|wave]], [[biomass]] and [[Geothermal gradient|geothermal]] energies are based on renewable resources. Renewable resources such as the movement of [[water]] ([[hydropower]], [[tidal power]] and [[wave power]]), [[wind power|wind]] and [[radiant energy]] from geothermal heat (used for [[geothermal power]]) and solar energy (used for [[Solar energy|solar power]]) are practically infinite and cannot be depleted, unlike their non-renewable counterparts, which are likely to run out if not used sparingly.

The potential wave [[energy]] on coastlines can provide 1/5 of world demand. Hydroelectric power can supply 1/3 of our total energy global needs. Geothermal energy can provide 1.5 more times the energy we need. There is enough wind to power all of humanity's needs 30 times over. Solar currently supplies only 0.1% of our world energy needs, but could power humanity's needs 4,000 times over, the entire global projected energy demand by 2050.<ref>R. Eisenberg and D. Nocera, "Preface: Overview of the Forum on Solar and Renewable Energy," Inorg. Chem. 44, 6799 (2007).</ref><ref>P. V. Kamat, "Meeting the Clean Energy Demand: Nanostructure Architectures for Solar Energy Conversion," J. Phys. Chem. C 111, 2834 (2007).</ref>

Renewable energy and [[Energy conservation|energy efficiency]] are no longer niche [[Economic sector|sector]]s that are promoted only by governments and environmentalists. The increasing levels of investment and capital from conventional financial actors suggest that [[sustainable energy]] has become mainstream and the future of energy production, as non-renewable resources decline. This is reinforced by [[climate change]] concerns, nuclear dangers and accumulating radioactive waste, [[2000s energy crisis|high oil prices]], [[peak oil]] and increasing government support for renewable energy. These factors are [[renewable energy commercialization|commercializing renewable energy]], enlarging the market and increasing the adoption of new products to replace obsolete technology and the conversion of existing infrastructure to a renewable standard.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://energy-base.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/SEFI-Global-Trends-in-Sustainable-Energy-Investment-2007.pdf |title=Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment 2007: Analysis of Trends and Issues in the Financing of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in OECD and Developing Countries (PDF), p. 3. |publisher=United Nations Environment Programme |access-date=2014-03-04}}</ref>