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Home > Reference > Geography of India > Resources in India > Renewable
Resources of Energy in India
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Renewable resources of energy in India are natural resources that can be refilled
by natural processes at a rate analogous or faster than its speed of consumption
by humans. Solar radiation, tides, winds and hydroelectricity are permanent
resources and are considered as renewable resources of energy as they do not
have the hazard of non availability. Renewable resources may also mean
commodities such as wood, paper, and leather, if harvesting is performed in a
sustainable manner. Some natural renewable resources of energy in India include
geothermal power, fresh water, timber, and biomass. A life cycle evaluation
provides a systematic means of estimating renew ability of these resources. The
term renewable resources have an implication of sustainability of the natural
environment. Gasoline, coal, oil and natural gas, diesel, and other commodities
derived from fossil fuels are non-renewable resources of energy in
India. Unlike fossil fuels, a renewable resource can have a sustainable yield.
Wind Power in India has made a significant role in the domain of energy resources.
India now ranks as a "wind superpower" with an installed wind power capacity of
almost 1167 MW and about 5 billion units of electricity have been supplied to the
national grid till date. The wind resource assessment programme includes wind
monitoring and wind mapping that covers 800 stations in 24 states with 193 wind-
monitoring stations in operations. Altogether 13 states of India acquire a net
potential of about 45000 MW wind energy. The development of wind power in
India began
in the 1990s,
and has significantly increased in the last few years.
India is gifted with economically exploitable and feasible hydro potential assessed
to be about 84,000 MW at 60 percent load factor. In addition, 6780 MW in terms
of installed capacity from Small, Mini and Micro Hydel schemes have been
assessed in India. Some of the advantages of Hydro Power include saving scarce
fuel reserves, cost of generation, operation and maintenance is far lower than the
other sources of energy, ability to start and stop quickly and immediate load
acceptance makes it suitable to meet peak demand and for enhancing system
reliability and stability, has higher efficiency (over 90 percent) compared to
thermal (35 percent) and gas (around 50 percent) and so on.
More than 700000 PV systems of capacity over 44MW for different solar
applications are installed all over India. The market segment and usage is mainly
for home lighting, street lighting, solar lanterns and water pumping for irrigation.
As the demand for power grows in the nation, traditional fuel based power-
generating capacity also grows, SPV based power generation is believed to be a
source to cater to the expected deficits. Especially in rural areas, where the
likelihood of conventional electric lines is remote, SPV power generation has
become best choice.
Geothermal power directly exploits the natural flow of heat from the ground. The
accessible energy from natural decay of radioactive elements in the earths, crust,
and mantle is roughly equal to that of incoming solar energy, particularly during
the day. Oils from plants and seeds are often used as a replacement for non-
renewable diesel. Methane is also considered as a renewable source of energy
used in some Indian factories. Nuclear power or a breeder reactor is often used as
renewable resources of energy.
India is blessed with abundance of water, sunlight, and biomass. Dynamic efforts
during the past two decades are now bearing fruit as people in all walks of life
have become more aware of the benefits of renewable energy. India has the
world`s largest programme for renewable energy. Government created the
Department of Non-conventional Energy Sources (DNES) in 1982. A complete
Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources was established in 1992 and the
Prime Minister controls the activities of this ministry. The activities of this
department promote renewable energy technologies, an environment conducive to
promote renewable energy technologies and renewable energy resource
assessment. Creating an environment conducive for their commercialisation,
research, development, and production of biogas units, solar thermal devices,
solar photovoltaics, cook stoves, wind energy and small hydropower units are also
some more responsibilities of the ministry.
• Hydroelectricity in India