A nonrenewable resource cannot be replenished within a human timescale. Fossil fuels and minerals formed over millions of years. Once used, they are gone. The rate of consumption far exceeds the rate of formation, which is effectively zero on any relevant timescale.

These resources powered the modern world. Coal fueled the Industrial Revolution. Oil transformed transport. Gas heated homes. Minerals like copper, iron, and lithium built infrastructure and technology. Without them, industrial society as we know it would not exist. The problem is that they are finite.

Depletion is gradual, not sudden. Prices rise as easy deposits run out. Extraction moves to harder-to-reach places, raising costs and environmental damage. Substitutes emerge when prices justify them. The transition to renewables is driven by both climate concern and resource limits. Nonrenewable resources will not vanish overnight. They will become steadily more expensive and less central to the economy.

Common examples

• Coal
• Oil
• Natural gas
• Uranium
• Minerals and metals