Amogh N P
✦ In loving memory of Amogh N P — Architect · Designer · Visionary ✦
A cleared hillside beside standing forest — deforestation at the forest edge.
Unit II25ART203 · Environmental Studies in Architecture

Natural Resources

Land, forest, water and energy — and what overuse costs.

≈ 30 min + study task

Buildings and cities run on resources — land to stand on, timber and minerals to build with, water to live by, and energy to power it all. This unit sorts resources into renewable and non-renewable, and faces the cost of overusing them: eroded land, lost forests, falling water tables.

Learning objectives

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to — mapped to the course outcomes for Environmental Studies in Architecture:

1
CO2 · Understand

Distinguish renewable from non-renewable resources with examples.

2
CO2 · Analyse

Explain land degradation — erosion, desertification and land-use change.

3
CO2 · Analyse

Account for the causes and impacts of deforestation and large dams.

4
CO6 · Evaluate

Weigh the over-exploitation of water and the case for alternate energy.

Two kinds of resource

Renewable & non-renewable

Renewable resources — sun, wind, water, forests, biomass — replenish within a human lifetime; non-renewable ones — coal, oil, gas, minerals — took millions of years to form and will not return. Even renewables can be degraded if used faster than they recover.[1, 3]

Renewable vs non-renewable resources Renewable sun wind & water forests & biomass Non-renewable coal oil & gas minerals
DiagramNatural resources split into renewable — sun, wind, water, forests, biomass — and non-renewable — coal, oil, gas, minerals
AspectRenewableNon-renewable
StockRenewable: replenished naturallyNon-renewable: finite, exhaustible
Timescaleregenerates within a lifetimeforms over millions of years
Examplessolar, wind, water, forests, biomasscoal, oil, natural gas, minerals
Pollutiongenerally low at usehigh (combustion, mining)
Riskoveruse can still degrade (forests, water)depletion + climate impact
What we are losing

Land & forests

Soil takes centuries to form and is lost in a season to erosion; over-use turns dryland to desert. Forests — felled for farms, mining and dams — take biodiversity, water regulation and carbon with them, and displace the tribal communities who live in them.[1, 5]

Land resources

Soil takes centuries to form and minutes to lose. Land-use change, over-cultivation, overgrazing and poor irrigation drive soil erosion and, at the extreme, desertification — turning productive land barren.[1, 3]

Gullied, eroded farmland — soil lost to water erosion.
PhotoGullied, eroded farmland — soil lost to water erosion.Michael Trolove · CC BY-SA 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
A large dam and reservoir — water resource and ecological cost in one view.
PhotoA large dam and reservoir — water resource and ecological cost in one view.Jeevan Jose, Kerala, India · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
Demand & alternatives

Water & energy

Surface and ground water are over-drawn for farms and cities — tables fall, rivers dry, and conflicts grow. Managing demand matters as much as building supply. And fossil energy is finite and polluting, so the alternate path is renewable: solar, wind, small hydro and biomass.[2, 3]

Apply it

Study task

For your own home or studio, list its main resource demands — water, electricity, materials — and note one renewable substitute or saving for each. Where does the electricity actually come from?

Check your understanding

Self-assessment

1. Which set is entirely renewable?

2. The extreme end-state of severe land degradation in dry regions is —

3. A major social impact of large dams and deforestation is —

In a nutshell

Recap

Renewable resources replenish naturally; non-renewable ones (fossil fuels, minerals) are finite.
Land degrades through erosion, over-use and desertification — soil is slow to form, fast to lose.
Deforestation and dams cost biodiversity, water regulation and carbon, and displace tribal communities.
Surface and ground water are over-exploited; alternate (renewable) energy eases fossil-fuel pressure.
The evidence

References & further reading

  1. [1]Anubha Kaushik & C.P. Kaushik, Perspectives in Environmental Studies. New Age International.
  2. [2]Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India — annual reports. https://mnre.gov.in/
  3. [3]R. Rajagopalan, Environmental Studies: From Crisis to Cure. Oxford University Press.
  4. [4]Forest Survey of India, India State of Forest Report. Dehradun: FSI / MoEFCC. https://fsi.nic.in/
  5. [5]Daniel B. Botkin & Edward A. Keller, Environmental Science. Wiley.

Further reading

  • Anubha Kaushik & C.P. Kaushik, Perspectives in Environmental Studies.
  • Erach Bharucha, Textbook of Environmental Studies for Undergraduate Courses (UGC).
  • R. Rajagopalan, Environmental Studies: From Crisis to Cure.

Sources gathered and fact-checked June 2026. Published values vary by source, sample and method — treat as indicative and confirm against the cited standard before structural use.