AUSTRALIA’S NATURAL RESOURCES

Natural resources are things supplied by nature that can be used by humans They include water, soil, forests, fish, energy, mineral deposits and wildlife/natural scenery Australia has more natural resources per person than any other country The reason for this is that we have a large country but a small population Australia is the world’s largest coal exporter

RENEWABLE ENERGY  Global warming and increased greenhouse gas emissions has prompted more research into renewable energy  Some types of renewable energy that work/may work in Australia are:  Geothermal energy: water is heated by pumping it through underground “hot rocks”. This results in steam that drives an electricity generating turbine.  Wind power: a wind turbine can power up to one thousand homes  Tidal power: waves drive electricity producing turbines (very suitable for desalination plants)

RENEWABLE ENERGY  Biomass energy: combustion of organic material used to produce electricity and liquid fuels such as ethanol  Solar power: technologies that harness the heat and light of the sun to provide heating, lighting and electricity  Hydro-electric power: the use of artificial dams (e.g. Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric scheme) to produce energy  Often renewable energy isn’t used because it’s too expensive, policies like the carbon tax will bridge the gap and make it just as expensive to use non-renewable resources e.g. fossil fuels

MINERALS  Australia is rich in mineral resources  Pilbara Region, WA: some of the largest iron ore reserves in the world  Weipa, QLD/Gove Peninsula, NT: large reserves of bauxite and aluminium  Additionally there are other minerals such as silver, copper, nickel and tin  The main goldfields are in WA

MINERALS  Australia is:  The world’s largest exporter of iron ore, bauxite, lead, diamonds, zinc ores and mineral sands  The world’s second largest exporter of alumina  The world’s third largest exporter of gold

SOILS  Because of low rainfall and poor soils much of Australia is not very useable for agriculture  Most parts of Australia are only suitable for sheep and cattle grazing  There are some patches of good soil including soils formed on rock of volcanic origin  Darling Downs, QLD  Orange, NSW  Clarence River, NSW  Margaret River, WA

NATURAL SCENERY  Australia has unique flora and fauna and general scenery attracting many tourists  Australia has many sites listed on the World Heritage List  Kakadu National Park – natural (e.g. biological diversity) and cultural (e.g. Aboriginal art) significance  Fraser Island  Great Barrier Reef  Blue Mountains

FORESTS  Apart from Antarctica, Australia is the world’s least forested continent  Woodland and shrubland is the predominant vegetation in Australia  Before European settlement 9% of Australia was forested, presently only 5% is forested  Australia exports some timber and timber products, however large amounts of timber have to be imported particularly softwoods