Which resource type includes coal and oil?

Which resource type includes coal and oil?

• A. Renewable Resources
• B. Inexhaustible Resources
• C. Non-Renewable Resources
• D. Biotic Resources

Answer: (C)

Non-renewable resources. Coal and oil are fossil fuels formed from ancient organic matter buried and transformed over millions of years. Because their formation takes far longer than human timescales, once we extract and use them, they cannot be replenished quickly enough to replace what we consume. They are not inexhaustible on human timescales, and they are not renewable resources. Biotic resources refer to living or once-living organisms used for goods, which isn’t how coal and oil are categorized. So coal and oil fit best as non-renewable resources.

Non-renewable resources. Coal and oil are fossil fuels formed from ancient organic matter buried and transformed over millions of years. Because their formation takes far longer than human timescales, once we extract and use them, they cannot be replenished quickly enough to replace what we consume. They are not inexhaustible on human timescales, and they are not renewable resources. Biotic resources refer to living or once-living organisms used for goods, which isn’t how coal and oil are categorized. So coal and oil fit best as non-renewable resources.