An Appetite for Resources - Geography - page 272

dilemma, therefore, is trying to find locations that satisfy both the necessary water and
the economics of proximity to large numbers of users.
The waste dilemma is perhaps even more daunting. After a certain period of use, the
uranium rods lose their capacity to produce heat, yet continue to generate radiation at
levels that may remain deadly for centuries. Finding a location or locations where this
waste can be safely stored for a prolonged period of time is key.
Renewable resources
Renewable resources are ones that can be replenished and, therefore, are theoretically inex-
haustible. As mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, trees are an example because they
can be replanted. Another is biomass conversion, which is the processing of organic matter
into combustible liquids or gases. These forms of energy are “renewable” because the organic
matter used to produce them can be grown (replenished) on a continuous basis.
In Brazil, a country that is poor in fossil fuels, sugar cane is used to make alcohol that is mixed with
petroleum to form gasohol . Millions of vehicles in that country run on this substance, which is only
about 20 percent gasoline. Else-where, organic wastes are locally collected and fermented in a low-
tech way that produces a methane biogas (gas) used for heating, cooking, and lighting. China and
India, for example, have extensive national biogas programs.
Of particular relevance to this topic is the fact that biomass conversion may potentially break the
bonds of location. Fossil fuels exist in limited, specific locales. In contrast, the number and extent
of regions that can and could grow, say, sugar cane or corn, in abundance for purposes of biomass
conversion is robust. The Corn Belt across the United States Midwest, for example, may one day
conceivably become the Fuel Belt, helping to break the dependence of a fuel-hungry world on those
relatively few locations where fossil fuels are found.
Perennial resources