Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Idi Brown (2011) discusses the natural resource curse theory and builds upon
another categorisation of natural resources, namely point source resources and diffuse
resources such as agriculture, fisheries and livestock. She claims, “countries in [Sub
Saharan Africa] with rich endowments in oil, precious metals, diamonds and other
minerals are notorious for their bad institutions, bleak growth rates and dismal devel-
opment outcomes. On the other hand, countries with more diffuse resources tend to
exhibit a more inclusive and cooperative environment with less corruption and more
stable growth rates'' (Brown 2011: 2).
We have noted a variety of partially contradictory approaches to conceptualising
natural resources in academia as well as wider society. For reasons of order, it may
be helpful to make a classification of natural resources based on their origin, stage
of development, and renewability. Following these three major aspects, several sub-
classifications can be created:
1 For
origin
, it is
biotic
(e.g., forests, animals, birds and fish but also coals and
oil) and
abiotic
(land, water, air, heavy metals including gold, iron, copper, silver,
etc.). The biotic and a-biotic divide is, as we will highlight below, a major cause
of confusion.
2 Considering their
stage of development
, natural resources may be referred to as
potential
resources, those that exist in a region and may be used in the future;
actual
resources, those that have been surveyed, are being used in present times,
and have had their quantity and quality determined;
reserve
resources, part of an
actual resource that can be developed profitably in the future; and
stock
resources,
those that have been surveyed but cannot be used due to lack of technology e.g.,
hydrogen).
3
The third aspect of natural resources is
renewability
:
Renewable resources are restocked naturally. Some of these resources, like
sunlight, air, and wind, are continuously available and their quantity is not
noticeably affected by human consumption. Yet many renewable resources do
not have such a rapid recovery rate, these resources are susceptible to depletion
by over-use.
•
Non-renewable resources are those that form over extremely long time peri-
ods. Minerals are the most common resource included in this category. From
the human use perspective, resources are non-renewable when their rate of
consumption exceeds the rate of replenishment/recovery such as fossil fuels.
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•
4
Point source
and
non-point source resources
. Whereas point-source resources are
lootable, non-point sources such as farmlands are not that easily taken away (but
their produce may be: see also below).
From the above overview of the use of the concept of natural resources in academic
and non-academic literature we conclude that a thorough understanding and clear
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Some resources actually naturally deplete in amount without human interference, the most
notable of these are the radio-active elements such as uranium, which naturally decay into
heavy metals. Of these, the metallic minerals can be re-used by recycling them. But coal and
petroleum cannot be recycled.
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