Source of Energy

Conventional and Non-conventional Source of Energy:

Energy is one of the most important component of economic infrastructure.

It is the basic input required to sustain economic growth. There is direct relation between the level of economic development and per capita energy consumption.

Simply speaking more developed a country, higher is the per capita consumption of energy and vice versa.

Two main sources of energy:

1: Conventional Sources of Energy:

These sources of energy are also called non-renewable sources. These sources of energy are in limited quantity except hydro-electric power.

These are further classified as commercial energy and non-commercial energy:

Commercial Energy Sources:

These are coal, petroleum and electricity. These are called commercial energy because they have a price and consumer has to pay the price to purchase them.

a) Coal and Lignite            b) Oil and Natural Gas             c) Electricity

There are three main sources of power generation:

1: Thermal Power

2: Hydro Electric Power

3: Nuclear Power

2: Non-conventional Sources of Energy:

Besides conventional sources of energy there are non-conventional sources of energy. These are also called renewable sources of energy. Examples are Bio energy, solar energy, wind energy and tidal energy.

1: Solar Energy:

Energy produced through the sunlight is called solar energy. Under this program, solar photovoltaic cells are exposed to sunlight and in the form of electricity is produced. Photovoltaic cells are those which convert sun light energy into electricity. 

2: Wind Energy:

This type of energy can be produced by harnessing wind power. It is used for operating water pumps for irrigation purposes. 

3: Tidal Energy:

Energy produced by exploiting the tidal waves of the sea is called tidal energy. Due to the absence of cost effective technology, this source has not yet been tapped.

4: Bio Energy:

This type of energy is obtained from organic matter.

It is of two kinds:

a): Bio Mass            b) Bio Gas

5: Energy from Urban Waste:

Urban waste poses a big problem for its disposal. Now it can be used for generation of power.