What was once considered a clever toy became a revolutionary instrument called a computer. Even though the population of humans increased from about 500 million in 1800 to six billion in 2000, food supplies increased faster than population, as did supplies of fossil fuels, minerals, wood, fibers, plastics, metals, potable water, and just about all the natural resources needed for human well-being and wealth. And finally, most recently, resources that have been there for four billion years but were unknown to humans until a few decades ago are now becoming the most revolutionary natural resources of the 3rd millenium. They are called genes. In the 3rd millenium, many think it will be the biotechnology revolution that will use the new knowledge about genes to multiply natural resources more dramatically than any of the others.
Nature provides matter and energy in the form of atoms and molecules and solar radiation.
Matter and energy are widespread in all the universe. On one level a natural resource is matter and energy. Air, for example. Or rocks and minerals. On a third level a natural resource becomes an important human resource when human beings with intelligence appear on a planet and work with matter, energy and the products of genes to make food, gasoline, paper, glass, plastics, fertilizers, drugs, computer chips, etc.