The Resources of the Earth - Thanatia: The Destiny of the Earth's Mineral Resources - page 156

Table 6.8 Available energy, potential energy use and current consumption of natural re-
sources on Earth
Resource

Available
energy

Potential
energy use

Current
energy
consumption

Geothermal 17.9 TW 59 - 124 GWe 10.7 GWe

Uranium - fission 27,100 Gtoe 5,200 Gtoe 626.2 Mtoe

Thorium - fission 7,500 Gtoe - -

Deuterium + Tritium (fusion) 74 Ttoe - -

Tidal power 2.7 TW 166 GW 300 MW

Solar PV 43.2 PW 51 TW 40 GWe

Solar thermal power 43.2 PW 630 - 4,700 854 MWe

GWe

Water power 11 TW 1,800 GW 775.6 Mtoe

Wind power 1,000 TW 14.5 TW 194 GW

1:1310 8 Gtoe

Ocean thermal gradient - -

Ocean conveyor belt 1,200 - 2,000

TW

- -

Ocean waves 3 TW 500 GW 2.8 MW

Biomass 92 TW 19 - 56 TW 1.5 TW

Coal 1,325 Gtoe 426.9 Gtoe 3,555.8 Mtoe

Natural gas 660 Gtoe 168.4 Gtoe 2,858.1 Mtoe

Oil 311 Gton 188.8 Gton 4,028.1 Mton

Non-conventional fuels 20,000 Gtoe - 66 Mtoe

are the companies that supply fossil fuels which undertake the necessary investments
and which ultimately make a future scenario a reality.
A detailed analysis of the results will be carried out in Chap. 11, when all
resources, including non-fuel minerals are assessed with the same unit of measure
(Table 6.8).

6.8 Non-fuel mineral resources

In addition to energy, non-fuel minerals are the other kind of resources essential for
civilisation. The quantity of such minerals on Earth is likewise finite and hence they
are classified as non-renewable. The physical and chemical properties of minerals
are directly influenced by the sun and geothermal power. These two are responsible
for the movement of materials from the Earth's interior, to the crust, from this to
the sea or to rivers, through currents, before their return to rock formation in the
so-called geochemical or rock cycle (Fig. 6.11). The resulting dynamic equilibrium
is called the geochemical balance (Craig et al., 2001).
The figures given in Table 5.16 show the relative abundance of the minerals
on Earth. It is important to note however that they are not found in a uniform
concentration across the entire crust. Fortunately, Nature provides areas of highly-
concentrated deposits, allowing for a relatively cost-effective extraction. Minerals
become concentrated in five ways (Skinner et al., 1999):