SOURCES OF ENERGY

Classification of Resources

Conventional Non Conventional

Good source of energy
Energy per unit volume is high
Cheaper and easily available
Easy to store and transport
Safe to handle and use
Proper ignition temperature
Characteristics of good fuel
It has high calorific value (KJ/g)
It should be burning without giving out any smoke or harmful gases
It should have proper ignition temperature
It should be cheap and easily available
It should be handle, safe to transport and convenient to store
It should not leave behind much ash after burning
Disadvantages of fossil fuels
The burning of fossil fuels produces acidic oxides such as Sulphur dioxide and Nitrogen di oxide.
These acidic oxides causes acid rain which affects our water and soil resources.
The burning of fossil fuels produces large amount of CO2 leading to green house effect.
The burning of fossil fuels produces a harmful gas called carbon monoxide which is formed into the air.
It also produces smoke which pollutes the air.
The burning of coal leaves a lot of ash.
Controlling measures
The pollution of air caused by burning petroleum fossils (Petroleum, diesel) in vehicles can be controlled by
fitting the vehicles with catalytic converters.
The pollution of air caused by burning coal in thermal power plants and factories can be controlled by
washing down the smoke and acidic gases with water and scrubber.
The pollution of air by burning coal in factories can be controlled by installing electrostatic precipitators in
their chimneys.
Hydel Energy
A power plant that produces electrical energy by using the flowing water to rotate a turbine is called Hydel
Energy.
Energy Conversion

Kinetic energy Potential Energy Mechanical Energy Electrical Energy.

Advantages
Does not cause any pollution
Renewable source of energy
Free of cost
The construction of dams on river can help in controlling flood in irrigation
Disadvantages
Dams can be constructed in limited no of places only
Energy of flowing water can rotate blades of water wheel to produce electricity only when water is available
in sufficient quantity
Flora and Fauna of submerged areas are destroyed
Submerged vegetation releases green house gasses during anaerobic respiration and decomposition
Rehabilitation of people is a problem
Biomass
The state of dead parts of plants and animals and waste material of animal dung is biomass.
It is the oldest source of energy.
Biomass contains chemical energy in the form of compounds
Due to improvements in technology for using conventional sources of energy, wood can be converted into a
much better fuel charcoal.
Wood is burnt in a limited supply of air, volatile materials and waste are removed away and a block substance,
charcoal is left behind, it is mainly carbon
Advantages of Charcoal
I has high calorific value, i.e. 33KJ per gram
Calorific value of wood is 17KJ per gram ( comparatively very low )
Charcoal does not produce smoke by burning where as wood produces a lot of smoke on burning and pollutes
the air.
It is a compact fuel which is easy to handle and convenient to use.
Advantages of Biomass
It gives us a clean fuel called biogas. The spent dung can be used as manure.
Disadvantages of biomass
Cow dung contains important elements like Nitrogen and Phosphorus, so burning of cow dung cake destroys
the useful material, which can otherwise be used as manure in agriculture.
Dung cake produces a lot of smoke while burning and pollutes the air.
They do not burn completely.
They produce a lot of ash as residue.
Dung cakes have no calorific value.
This can be used as a smokeler fuel after extracting the bio-gas.

Biogas
It is a mixture of Methane, CO2, Hydrogen and Hydrogen Sulphide.
The major components of this is Methane. It contains about 75 % of Methane.
Biogas can also be obtained by the action of anaerobic bacteria on domestic sewage and it is called sewage
waste.
Uses of Bio gas
It is used as a fuel for coking food
It burns without smoke and does not cause air pollution.
It has high calorific value
It burns completely without any residue.
It does not have storage problem as it is supplied from pipes directly from gas plant.
It is cheaper than other common fuel.
It is used in lighting.
It is used as a fuel to run engines.
 It is used for electricity production.
It is a renewable source of energy.
Wind Energy
The energy passed by wind is due to its high speed, so the wind posses kinetic energy.
Wind flows due to the uneven heating of land by sun different places. So the wind energy comes from the sun
in an indirect way.
Advantages of wind energy
The main advantage is, it does not cause any pollution.
It is an efficient source of renewable energy
It helps us to conserve fossil fuels, so that it may last longer.
It is available free of cost.
Disadvantages of wind energy
Wind energy farms cannot be established anywhere. It can be established where wind blows most part of the
year.
The wind required for generating electricity should be strong and steady to maintain the desired level of
generation.
The minimum speed of satisfactory working of generator is about 15km/hr
Wind energy forms require a large area of land
The setting up of wind energy farms is expensive.
Solar Cooker
It is a device used to cook food by using heat energy radiated by the sun.
Advantages of Solar Energy
Saves precious fuel like coal, kerosene and LPG.
Does not produce foam and does not pollute air
When food is cooked in it, their nutrient does not get destroyed. This is because food is cooked at a
comparatively lower temperature.
In a solar cooker up to four food items can be cooked at the same time.
Limitations of Solar cooker
It cannot be used to cook during night time.
If the day sky is cloudy also the solar cooker cannot be used.
The direction of the solar cooker has to be changed from time to time to keep it facing the sun.
The box type solar cooker cannot be used for baking or frying purpose.
Solar cell
They use energy from sunlight to produce electricity.
It is device which converts solar energy into electrical energy.
Processes
The strength of the colour produced depends on brightness of light and the efficiency of the cell.
A potential difference of about 0.5V is generated between the top and bottom of cell.
At present the best designed solar cell can generate 0.7 W in bright sunlight with the maximum efficiency of
25%.
Solar constant
The amount of solar energy received by one square meter area is an unit second near the surface exposed
perpendicular to the rays of the sun at a average distance between the sun and the earth is called solar constant is 1.4
KJ / 5 / m2 or 1.4 KW / m2 ( 1KW = 1KJ / s )
Solar energy devices
A device that gets heat by using suns heat energy is called a solar heating device. E.g. Solar cooker, solar
water heater, solar cell and panel.
All these devices are designed in such a way that they help in collecting as much sun rays as possible. This is
done by using a black painted surface, a glass sheet cover and also in certain cases, a reflecting mirror.
Black painted surface absorbs more heat energy from the sun.
Glass sheet traps more and more of suns heat rays by green house
Plane mirror reflector to increase the area over which solar energy is connected so that more heat rays
of the sun may enter the solar cooker.
Solar panel
In the cases where more is needed, a large number of cells are joined and is called solar panel. Thus a panel is
a large no. of cells joined together in a definite pattern.
Advantages of solar panel
They have no moving parts they require almost no maintenance and they work quite satisfactory even in the
presence of diffused variation.
They do not produce any pollution.
They can be set up in remote areas, sparsely inhabited where the laying of power transmission line is very
difficult and expensive.

Disadvantages of solar energy

Silver wire used to interconnect cells for making panels is expensive.
Energy from Sea
Energy from sea is mainly in three forms
Tidal energy
Wave energy
Ocean thermal energy
Limitations of tidal energy
There are very few sites around the world which is suitable for building tidal barrides
The rise and fall of sea water during high and low tide is not enough to generate.
Limitations of wave energy
The harnessing of waves would be in variable preposition where sea waves are very strong.
Advantages of ocean thermal energy
I can be used continuously 24 hours a day throughout the year.
It is a renewable resource and does not cause any pollution
Limitations of ocean thermal energy
The energy potential from the sea is very large. But its commercial exploitation is difficult at the movement.
Advantages of geo thermal energy
It is economical. Eco-friendly, does not cause any pollution
Disadvantages of geo thermal energy
It is available only in those areas where hot rocks are available near the earth surface.
Deep drilling in the earth to detain geothermal energy is technically very difficult and expensive
 Two places where geothermal energy can be exploited in commercial scale is Madhya Pradesh and Himachal
Pradesh
Nuclear energy
There are two types of nuclear reaction
Nuclear Fission
Nuclear Fusion
Nuclear energy is released mainly in the form of heat and sometimes light.
It is also known as atomic energy, as it can be considered to be coming from atom.
Advantages of fusion over fission
An advantage of nuclear fusion reaction over nuclear fission reaction for producing electricity is that the
amount of energy released is much more in a fusion reaction than that liberated in a fission reaction.
The products of a fusion reaction are not radioactive. So, they are harmless and can disposed off easily
without causing any contamination in the environment.
Disadvantages of fusion over fission
The biggest disadvantage is that it has not been possible to have a controlled fusion reaction so far and to
safely use the enormous heat during this reaction for production of electricity.
Advantages of nuclear energy
It produces a large amount of energy from a very small amount of nuclear fuel
Once a nuclear fuel is loaded (uranium 273 ) into the reactor, the nuclear power plants can go on producing
electricity for 2 to 3 years at a stretch
There is no need of refilling the fuel
It does not produce gases like CO2 which contributes to green house effect, SO2 which causes acid rain.
Disadvantages of nuclear energy
The waste products of nuclear reactions are radioactive which keeps on emitting harmful radiations for 1000
of years. So, it is very difficult to store or dispose of nuclear waste safely. Improper nuclear waste storage or
disposal can pollute the environment.
There is a risk of accidents, such accident leads to leakage of radioactive material which can cause serious
damage to plants and animal and to the environment.
The high cost of installations of nuclear power plant and the limited availability of uranium make the large
scale usage of nuclear energy prohibitive.
Environmental consequences of increased demand of energy.
The combustion of fossil fuels is producing acid rain and damaging plants, soil and aquatic life.
The burning of fossil fuel is increasing the amount of green house gas CO2 in atmosphere.
Deforestation for obtaining fire wood is causing soil erosion and destroying wild life.
The construction of hydro-power plants is destroying ecological balance.
Nuclear power plants are increasing radio activity in the environment.
Conclusion
The various factors which we should keep in mind while choosing a source of energy are
The ease of extracting the energy from the source.
The cost of extracting the energy from the source.
The efficiency of technology available to extract from the source.
The damage to the environment caused by using the source of energy.