Which statement is true regarding renewable versus nonrenewable energy resources and environmental implications?

• A. Renewable resources are finite and exhaustible.
• B. Nonrenewable resources are replenished as quickly as they are used.
• C. Renewable resources have no variability in availability.
• D. Renewable resources replenish over time and generally lower emissions compared with nonrenewables.

Answer: (D)

Renewable energy resources replenish over time and generally have lower emissions than nonrenewables. Because sources like sunlight, wind, and water flow can be captured repeatedly, they aren’t depleted in a human lifetime. Operating renewables often avoids burning fuels, which means fewer air pollutants and greenhouse gases compared with fossil fuels, helping reduce environmental and climate impacts. There are caveats, such as variability in availability (sunlight and wind aren’t constant) and some lifecycle environmental costs for producing equipment, but the overall pattern is that renewables renew themselves and tend to emit less than nonrenewables. The other statements fail because renewables are not finite, nonrenewables aren’t replenished quickly, and renewables do experience variability in availability.