Energy resource

An energy resource is a source we can use to provide energy for activities such as heating, transport and generating electricity. Resources are classified according to whether natural processes replace them quickly enough for continued human use—not according to whether they are cheap or environmentally harmless.

An energy resource is a source we can use to provide energy, whether for generating electricity, heating buildings or powering transport. One way to classify resources is to ask what happens to their supply as we use them: are we using up a stored stock, drawing on a continuing natural flow, or using materials that can be reused or regrown?