A
non-renewable resource (also called a finite resource) is a resource that does not renew itself at a sufficient rate for sustainable economic extraction in meaningful human time-frames. An example is carbon-based, organically-derived fuel. The original organic material, with the aid of heat and pressure, becomes a fuel such as oil or gas.
Earth minerals and
metal ores,
fossil fuels (
coal,
petroleum,
natural gas) and
groundwater in certain
aquifers are all non-renewable resources.