Conventional and Non Conventional Sources of Energy
Different sources of energy are majorly categorised into two sources:
- Conventional sources of energy
- Non-conventional sources of energy
Conventional sources of energy
- Conventional sources of energy are the natural sources of energy available for a limited time period.
- These sources are the non-renewable sources of energy and they get depleted with time.
- They are usually obtained from decaying material which was formed over millions of years ago.
- Examples of conventional sources of energy: coal, natural gas, petroleum etc.
- Conventional sources have cause immense environmental damage and has significantly contributed to global warming.
Different types of conventional sources of energy
Coal
- Coal is one of the most important sources of conventional energy.
- Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel found in India and it has been the main source of India’s energy supply for many years.
- Since the advent of industrialization coal has been most common source of energy.
- There are around 150000 million tonnes of coal deposits in India. Out of which, deposits are mainly in the states of Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and West Bengal.
- India is the fourth-largest coal producing nation in the world.
Natural gas
- It is an important source of energy in India.
- Natural gas consists about 95% Methane and rest ethane and propane.
- It occurs deep under the crust of the earth either alone or a long with oil above the petroleum deposits.
- It is available in Tripura, Jaisalmer, off-shore areas of Bombay High and in the Krishna – Godavari delta.
- It is used both as a domestic and industrial fuel.
Petroleum products
- It is an important source of energy in India.
- It is used in automobiles, trains, aircraft, and ships and other transportation vehicle.
- The key oil-producing states in India are Mumbai, Assam, and Gujarat.
- Some of the crude oil producing locations in our country are:
- Ankleshwar and Kalol in Gujarat
- Rudrasagar and Lakwa in Assam; and
- Bombay high (off-shore area).
Non-conventional sources of energy
- The sources of energy which are being produced continuously in nature and are in exhaustible are called renewable sources of energy (or) non-conventional energy.
- These sources of energy do not cause environmental pollution and are, therefore, environmental-friendly sources of energy.
- Examples of non-conventional sources of energy: tidal energy, wind energy, hydel energy, solar energy, and geothermal energy.
We will discuss the different types of non conventional sources of energy in the next article.
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