Natural resources are elements found in the environment that humans use for various purposes. They can be categorised based on their use and renewability. By use, natural resources are divided into essential resources like air, water, and soil, which are crucial for life; material resources like wood, coal, and metals, used to create products; and energy resources like solar, wind, and fossil fuels, which are used for generating electricity and powering industries. By renewability, they are classified as renewable resources, such as timber, water, and solar energy, which can regenerate over time and non-renewable resources, like coal, petroleum, and minerals, which are limited and take millions of years to form, making them hard to replace, once used.