What are renewable and non-renewable resources used for?

Answer 1

Renewable resources are resources which can be recycled or re-grown within a human timescale, or whose consumption does not diminish their abundance.

Fossil fuels, such as oil and coal, are not renewable because while they can be re-made through natural processes, it requires geological timescales (millions of years). Solar energy, while technically not renewable, is not reduced by its consumption.

The use of renewable resources are much more useful than non-renewable resources because using renewable resources is sustainable. Non-renewable resources are depleted by their use -- eventually, they run out; the world has a finite supply of oil and coal, and once depleted, the supplies cannot regenerate in any useful timescale (again, it takes millions of years for natural processes to create coal or oil).

Answer 2

Renewable and non-renewable resources are used for many different things.

Renewable resources (two examples):

1. Sunlight is used to keep the earth warm, to generate electricity, to cause plants to grow, to add Vitamin D to humans and many other things.
2. Water is used for washing, drinking, swimming, sailing and many other things.

Non-renewable resources (two examples):

1. Gold is used for money, to fill teeth, jewellery, and in making computers and many other things.
2. Coal is used to generate electricity and for heating.