Non- Renewables

• Non-renewables are reliable but create environmental problems
• Fossil fuels and nuclear energy are reliable
• There's enough fossil and nuclear fuels to meet current demand, and they are extracted from the Earth at a fast enough rate thta power plants always have fuel in stock
• Always having fuel in stock in power plants means that the power plants can repond quickly to changes in demand
• However, these fuels are slowly running out
• If not new resources are found, some fossil fuel stocks may run out within a hundred years
• While the set-up costs of power plants can be quite high compared to other energy resources, the running costs aren't that expensive
• Combined with fairly low fuel extraction costs, using fossil fuels isa cost effective way to produce energy (which is why it's so popular)
• Coal, oil and gas release CO2 into the atmosphere when they're burned. All this CO2 adds to the greenhouse effect, and contributes to global warming
• Burning coal and oil also releases sulphur dioxide, which causes acid rain - which can be harmful to trees and soils and can have far-reaching effects in ecosystems
• Acid rain can be reduced by taking the sulphur out before the fuel is burned, or cleaning up the emissions
• Coal mining makes a mess of the landscape, especially "open-cast mining"
• As with many energy resources, the view can be spoilt by fossil fuel power plants
• Oil spilages cause more serious environmental problems, affecting mammals and birds that live in and around the sea. We try to avoid them, but they always happen
• Nuclear power is clean but the nuclear waste is very dangerous and difficult to dispose of.
• Nuclear fuel (e.g. uranium or plutonium) is relatively cheap but the overall cost of nuclear power is high due to the cost of the power plant and final decommissioning
• Nuclear power always carries the risk of major catastrophe like the Fukushima disaster in Japan