Why is coal a non-renewable energy resource?

Answer 1

Coal is NON-renewable because after we dig it all up and burn it, then it's gone, finished. There is no more. It doesn't renew itself every day.

Sunlight, wind power, wave and tidal motion and geothermal power are all renewable, because we can use them all as much as we can today, and they still come back again, renewed tomorrow.

Coal was formed over untold millions of years from fossilised plant material, which was mostly covered over by subsequent geological action, and hence preserved. This is not being renewed because these conditions do not now exist. The world was very different then, much warmer and much more plant growth, whereas now we live in an era of ice ages (talking of the last few million years). Obviously if the world's climate changed again this could be repeated, but man will probably be long gone by then.

You have to burn COAL to release the energy inside of it and it takes millions of years to form, so we can't just make more.

Because it takes thousands of years to create coal.

Coal is the product of compression and heating of organic matter under the ground over a long period of time.

Answer 2

Coal is a non-renewable energy resource because it takes millions of years to form from decomposed plant material under high pressure and heat. Once coal is extracted and burned, it cannot be replaced within a human's lifetime.