Non-Renewable Energy

Origin
Early humans were scavengers and hunter-gatherers whose main source of energy was muscle power. A human living at this basic survival level needed about 2,000 kilocalories of energy per day, most of it in the form of food. In a modern industrial society, the average person uses 2,000 kilocalories of energy per day for basic energy needs, plus about 600,000 kilocalories of energy per day used by machines and systems.

On the first steps along this energy path, humanity mostly used renewable firewood for cooking, lighting, heating, etc. However, around the year 1850, many forests were depleted because of increased demands due to the growth of energy demands for ships, tractors, locomotives and factory machinery. Mankind survived this early energy crisis by learning how to burn coal for heating and for running factories and trains.

By 1900, wood provided only about 18% of our energy, and coal provided 73%. In 1859, we learned how to pump oil out of the ground and later invented ways to convert it to fuels such as gasoline and heating oil. In 1954 the first nuclear power plant was opened.
Miller & Brewer

Popular Use
During the Industrial Revolution the Western world started using non-renewable energy on a large scale, making our current economy dependent on large inputs of energy. In other parts of the world, the use of energy has just started to rise. In developing countries, the energy demand will rise with 2% a year.
PBL

Revenues
It is hard to sum up the total revenues of the non-renewable energy sector, but the five biggest companies in this sector had a total revenue of US$1.547.017 billion in 2010.
IEA

Step 1 - Construction
All non-renewable energy sources have to be mined, either in open or closed mines. More about this can be found in the section concerning mining. After mining, the processes are different for every source and application. Fossil fuels can be converted into electricity, can be used as fuel for vehicles, or for heating. These processes will not all be described here, because they can be found in other sections. Nuclear energy is mostly used to produce electricity.
Mining Technology

Step 2 - Transportation
Raw non-renewable energy resources are transported over the world, because they are mined on a few locations on earth. Oil, coal and uranium are mostly transported by ships, whereas gas is being transported by pipelines. The dependence on transport makes the supply of these energy resources vulnerable, as could be seen in the conflicts over Russian pipelines or the Suez Canal.

Step 3 - Distribution
After the non-renewable energy is converted into electricity, it is distributed through the electricity grid. Fuel oil is distributed by ships, trucks and petrol stations.
Mining Technology

Global reserves
The expectation is that the global reserves of non-renewable energy are big enough to provide us with energy in the coming decades. It is estimated that (with the current level of consumption), there will be oil for 150 years, gas for 360 years and coal for 1300 years.

However, the cheap and conventional reserves of natural gas and oil are becoming scarce, probably leading to higher prices. There is substantial disagreement among scientists about the oil and gas reserves, some think that the available and cheap reserves are very limited or are already over their top, others are more optimistic.
NPR

Location
Non-renewable resources are unevenly distributed over the world. Oil, uranium and gas are mostly mined in politically unstable regions, making the supply vulnerable. Some important economically growing regions, like China and India, have hardly any natural gas and oil.
New York Times

Greenhouse Gases
Fossil fuels contain greenhouse gases like CO2. By burning fossil fuels, these gases are being emitted to the air. The CO2 emissions will rise from 29 Gigaton in 2008 (which is 93% of the world's total output) 47 Gigaton in 2040. The higher concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere leads to climate change. See the section on climate change for more information.
IEA
PBL

Radioactivity
The main danger of nuclear energy is its radioactivity. See the section on Nuclear Energy for more information.
Uranium

Carbon Capture and Storage
A technique to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of fossil fuel energy is Carbon Capture and Storage, a technique whereby the carbon emitted in fossil fuel power plants is being captured. This technique is relatively new and is not fully developed. Moreover, the costs are still uncertain.
Springer
MIT

Low Cost
The current cost of non-renewables is relatively low compared to other energy sources. However, it is hard to compare the real prices. Many countries have non-renewable energy subsidies, resulting in market prices that do not reflect the real price. Moreover, the external costs of non-renewable energy resources are high, and the EU estimates that oil and gas prices would double when external costs like environmental pollution would be included.
IEA
OECD
European Commission, DG Research and Innovation

Largest Producing Countries of Fossil Fuels
(in thousand oil barrels equivalent daily, 2008)
1. China - 1,818.6
2. United States - 1,407.0
3. Russian Federation - 1,109.7
4. Saudi Arabia - 529.7
5. Iran - 320.5
BP

Largest Users of Non-Renewable Energy
(in thousand oil barrels equivalent daily, 2008)
1. USA - 20,777
2. China - 9,493
3. Russian Federation - 4,986
4. Japan - 3,313
5. India - 3,154
BP