Previous Year Question

Petroleum is a fossil fuel and a non-renewable energy resource. It forms over millions of years when ancient organic matter is buried underground and subjected to heat and pressure for very long periods.

Natural processes cannot replenish Petroleum at anything close to the rate at which humans consume it. Therefore, on the human time scale, its reserves are considered finite and exhaustible. Government environmental material also identifies Petroleum, Coal and Natural Gas as examples of non-renewable resources.

Solar energy is renewable because energy from the Sun is continuously available and using solar energy does not exhaust the solar resource.

Wind energy is also renewable. Atmospheric circulation is continuously maintained by solar heating and Earth's physical processes, so wind is not a finite stock like a fossil fuel.

Biogas can be produced through anaerobic decomposition of animal dung, agricultural residues and other biodegradable organic matter. Its raw material can be replenished over comparatively short periods, so it is treated as a renewable bio-energy source.

Coal + Petroleum + Natural Gas → Fossil fuels → Non-renewable
Solar + Wind + Biogas → Renewable