How to calculate the resource availability? Resource availability of Russia and the United States. Resource availability is ...

The term "resource availability" was used in connection with the development of industrial production and the growing needs of the population in energy, water and raw materials for its further processing and transformation into various material goods.

Definition of resource availability

Resource availability is the quantitative ratio between the magnitude of natural resources and the size of their consumption. By concept natural resources denote those components of nature that are used or can be used to meet different human needs. The past twentieth century is characterized by an unprecedented increase in the world population and world social production, and the achievements of modern scientific technologies have an increasing impact on the environment. As the human needs for raw materials are constantly increasing, the task of rational and reasonable exploitation of all natural resources becomes more urgent.

General classification of world resources

Natural resources can be classified according to different characteristics. The most fundamental is the classification based on the genesis of resources, according to which they are divided into:

• Land;
• Forest;
• Water;
• Biological;
• Mineral and raw materials;
• Power;
• Climatic.

Classification of resources by type of exhaustibility

All the resources of nature are divided into inexhaustible and exhaustible. The first include water and climate resources. Exhausted natural resources are reduced in the process of their use; Most of the Earth's resources fall into this group . Another important property of exhaustible resources is their renewability. On this basis they are divided into:

• Recoverable (forests, plants, animals, etc.);
• Non-recoverable (minerals).

In connection with the limited reserves of inexhaustible resources, more and more attention is now being paid to the use of resource-saving technologies and the search for alternative energy sources.

How to calculate the resource availability

Resource availability is usually expressed in terms of the number of years that consumers are provided with a certain type of resources. This indicator contains important information that allows you to plan the future use of certain natural resources. Estimation of the resource availability of renewable resources, however, is expressed by the ratio between their reserves and the quantity per capita. Thus, their updating is taken into account. Since literally all kinds of resources are raw material for various branches of the economy, the concept of "resource-providing" has a socio-economic significance.

How to assess the resource availability?

The assessment of the country's resource availability is carried out in two ways. The first method uses the following formula:

• P = 3 / D, where

Р - resource availability in years, 3 - quantity of stocks, Д - volume of extraction.

This way is estimated the provision of resources on the basis of their annual consumption.

In the second method, the calculation is carried out according to the formula:

• P = 3 / H, where

Р - resource availability in years, 3 - quantity of stocks, Н - population of the country.

It is used to assess renewable resources.

The indicator of resource availability is calculated with respect to a certain point in time and can vary.

Value

The distribution of natural resources on Earth is associated with the tectonic features of the formation of continents. Their reserves affect the indicator of resource availability of a country or individual regions of the world. Resource security is the factor that is of great importance for the development of the country's economy in a certain direction. Although there are no regions on Earth that are characterized by an absolute lack of resources. The presence, say, of energy resources is a much greater advantage than security, for example, by sand. This, however, does not mean that a country that is poor in natural resources is also doomed to poverty. An example is Japan, which has limited resources, but is among the most developed countries due to the availability of capital, the working capacity of the population and the introduction of modern technologies.

Distribution of natural resources in the world

Natural resources on Earth are distributed very unevenly not only in relation to continents, but also individual countries. Depending on their endowment, resources are divided into:

1. Endowed with rich reserves of various resources - they include Russia, the United States and China, which are almost completely provided for by them. This group also includes India, Australia, Brazil, South Africa and Canada, which have a smaller, in comparison with the first three states, but a rather rich variety of resources.
2. Countries of medium resource availability - in fact, this group includes most of the states. Typically, such countries have an average of some types of resources, while other types are not represented.
3. Specialized countries that are endowed with large reserves of any one important type of resources. An example is Saudi Arabia, which is the largest oil supplier in the world.

From the above classification is clearly visible law between the area of the territory of a certain state and the number of available to them wealth. The resource availability of the regions of the world and individual countries depends, however, not only on the quantity of stocks, but also on the scale of exploration, development and extraction of resources. So, Saudi Arabia owns a palm tree of the first place in terms of oil production, but in terms of resource availability with this raw material, Iraq ranks first. In connection with the war in the Persian Gulf in the 90s and the subsequent occupation of Kuwait by Iraq, international sanctions were imposed on the country, and now Iraq does not have a quota for oil production.

Natural potential of Russia

The total amount of natural resources that can be used in a country's economy is called the natural resource potential. The aggregate potential consists of the sum of the potentials of individual types of resources.

Natural resources of Russia are characterized by significant reserves and diversity, but the uneven distribution in the country. It should be noted that there are insufficient studies of some types of resources located in sparsely populated areas with unfavorable climatic conditions. For well-developed and developed areas, depletion of existing reserves is typical.

How much is Russia provided with resources?

Resource availability is the ratio between resource stocks and the volume of their production. The basis of Russia's industrial potential is its supply of resources. The country is ranked among the countries that occupy leading positions in the field of exploration and development of minerals. But how well developed is Russia's resource supply? The country is characterized by the production and consumption of all major primary energy resources (coal, natural gas and oil). The largest share of reserves falls on coal, the second place is occupied by natural gas, and the least of all here is oil reserves. This ratio is also applicable to the situation around the world, and in the long term, as stocks deplete, it is necessary to look for alternatives for replacing these resources with alternative species.

The second most important place after the energy is occupied by metals and ore minerals. Russia has the world's richest iron ore reserves, as well as significant quantities of copper, nickel, titanium ores, tin, tungsten and other metals. Important for the country's economy are deposits of precious metals and diamonds. In terms of their production, Russia is in second place after South Africa. The country is also the leader in terms of the quantity of timber and land reserves. On the basis of the above, several conclusions arise:

1. Energy supply is one of the most important advantages of Russia. These resources are concentrated mainly in the east.
2. There is a pronounced difference between the distribution of resources in the western and eastern parts of the country. The western part is characterized by the predominance of deposits of various types of ores; It also contains the bulk of agricultural land.

The total size of potential reserves, their diversity and the nature of the location are suitable for the development of all sectors of the economy and integrated economic development in selected economic regions.

US Resource Availability

The territory of the country is characterized by a variety of natural conditions and types of resources. As an advantage, one should note excellent agro-climatic conditions - the USA has huge forest resources, large black earth areas and mild climate. The United States, like Russia, is among the leaders in its reserves of mineral fuels - about 25% of the world's coal deposits are located in the country, and the country is in the top ten countries in terms of oil and gas reserves. Other types of resources that the US has in significant quantities are iron ore, non-ferrous and precious metal ores, uranium, phosphorites. Water resources are provided to a sufficient extent, but they are distributed unevenly in its territory. Despite the diversity of natural resources, both countries are forced to import certain types of minerals because of their lack or insufficient quantity.