nonrenewable
Britishadjective
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012-
Relating to a natural resource, such as petroleum or a mineral ore, that cannot be replaced once it has been extracted or procured. Nonrenewable resources that are not significantly altered by their use, including most metals, can often be recovered and their usefulness extended by recycling.
-
Compare renewable
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Because of climate policies, these states closed most of their coal-fired power plants and nuclear facilities over the past 15 years, making nonrenewable energy generation more difficult.
“Humans will have to learn to be very, very careful with how we use nonrenewable resources like water,” LaBarge says.
From Seattle Times
Coal energy has three main advantages when compared to other sources of renewable and nonrenewable energy.
From Encyclopedia.com
Though for many the financial aspect is motivation enough for making the switch, Brian Henning said the environmental implications are especially great in Washington, which utilizes hydroelectric power as opposed to other, nonrenewable sources.
From Seattle Times
Some economists also expect fertilizer-grade phosphorus costs to skyrocket as the world’s supply of the nonrenewable resource dwindles.
From Science Magazine
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.