A Call for An Encyclopedia of Natural Resources

It’s important we know how much of every natural resource there is on our planet. We also need to know how much it costs to excavate the resource. This way we can set fair trade prices for them, distribute them responsibly, and come up with plans on how to prevent running out of resources we heavily depend on. Natural resources come in many different types, but I am going to categorize some of them based on their level of renewability. 

Fully Renewable Resources

1. Solar, wind, geothermal, and water (hydropower) energy

2. Biomass (like crop waste)

3. Animals

4. Marine life (like fish)

5. Timber

6. Oxygen

7. CO2

Semi-Renewable

1. Ground water

2. Fertile soil

Nonrenewable Resources

1. Minerals and metals 

   1. Gold, iron, copper, lithium, uranium, aluminum

2. Fossil fuels

These are only common examples of renewable, semi-renewable, and  nonrenewable resources. What we really want is a sort of encyclopedia of natural resources listing their definitions, known quantities, excavation methods, and average cost of excavation. The purpose of doing this is to achieve fair and responsible trade of the resources, and to avoid running out of them unexpectedly. Prices, obviously, would become predictable too.