■ CO 2 and other wastes are released during the enrichment process.
■ Uranium is a nonrenewable resource.
■ Exposure to radiation results in increases in genetic mutations and cancers
and decreases in fertility rates.Other Nonrenewable Energy Resources
METHANE (CLATHRATES) HYDRATES
Methane hydrates, also known as methane clathrates (methane locked in ice), are
a recently discovered source of methane that form at low temperature and high
pressure. They are found: (1) on land in permafrost regions; (2) beneath the
ocean floor at water depths greater than 1,640 feet (500 m), where high pressures
dominate and where the hydrate deposits themselves may be several hundred
meters thick; and (3) on continental shelves. Some believe there is enough
methane in the form of hydrates to supply energy for hundreds or thousands of
years. The following pie chart shows the distribution of organic carbon in Earth’s
reservoirs (excluding dispersed carbon in rocks and sediments, which equal
nearly 1,000 times this amount). More than half of the carbon is locked up in gas
hydrates.