Natural resources are the wealth supplied bynature that is available for human use. Naturalresources include water, soil, forests, fish, energyand mineral deposits, and wildlife and naturalscenery. Australia has a greater value of naturalresources per head of population than any othercountry in the world. The main reason is that wehave a small population in a very large country.
The United States and China, for example, are farbetter endowed with natural resources than Australia,but they have much larger populations.
Australia is rich in energy resources. On theworld energy scene, Australia is:÷ the world's main exporter of black coal÷ a major uranium exporter÷ a major exporter of liquated natural gas.
At White Cliffs in far-western New South Wales, solarreïectors have the potential to make a signifcantcontribution to the town's power needs. The installation isalready the source of power for the small town's street lights,post office, hospital, school and community centre.
Australia has abundant quantities of bothblack and brown coal with about 8 per cent of theworld total of black coal and about 15 per cent ofthe world's brown coal.
Value of production of resource commodities in Wes...
Coat of arms of Western Australia
Government House, Perth, Western Australia.The main black coaledare in the Hunter Valley/Sydney Basin area ofNew South Wales and the Bowen Basin inQueensland. The main brown coaled arelocated in Victoria's La Trobe Valley. AlthoughAustralia has limited supplies of crude oil, vastENERGYsupplies of natural gas have been discovered,particularly in the North West Shelf area off thecoast of Western Australia. Australia's uraniumresources are among the largest in the world.
Research and development of renewableresources is an important step towards a sustainablefuture. In Australia, there is considerablepotential for the use of renewable energysources, such as solar and wind energy.
Australia is also rich in mineral resources. ThePilbara region in Western Australia has some ofthe largest reserves of iron ore in the world.
Large reserves of bauxite and aluminium exist atWeipa in...