2 CLASSIFICATION OF ENERGY SOURCES 1 Renewable Energy Resources Non conventional sources of energy Alternate sources of energy Relatively new techniques developed by man Solar Energy man recently learnt how to harness solar energy Sun there billions of years to come and this energy cannot be exhausted easily We can use the suns directly To concentrate its heat by using mirrors Sunny places used to make furnaces or to generate electricity Solar Panels made up of special material that absorb sunlight convert the solar energy into chemical and electrical energy which is further used for various purpose like cooking heating lighting etc NOTED Commercial forms of solar cooker solar water heaters solar lights solar cells etc are now available Community lighting and pimping of water is also done by solar energy in many rural areas where electricity is not available Biomass it s a chemical energy stored in it It is burnt to provide heat or electricity or converted to liquid or gaseous bio fuel Wood Wood waste animal excreta like cow dung etc Bio energy the inexpensive and easily available cow dung is collected and processed in a special manner to release a gaseous fuel which is primarily for cooking and lighting purposes Less polluting and more efficient than the traditional cow dung cakes Hydel Energy kinetic energy is the energy possessed by an object due to its movement Used to run machines turbines and produce electricity Hydroelectric Power it s moving water that a lot of energy and it s used to generate electricity Flowing water of rivers is constantly replenished by the water cycle Noted Water is collected in dams and allowed to fall from height on turbines These turbines are connected to generators which produce electricity Wind Energy used to run windmills which converts the wind energy to mechanical or electrical energy Windmill used to grind cereals Wind speed is high in coastal area where it is harnessed and converted to electrical energy Kinetic energy of fast moving wind is also used by man Nuclear Energy form of energy gets its name from the method of its production Nucleus of atoms of specific materials undergo fission or are split in a controlled environment This fission gives out tremendous amount of energy This energy converted to electrical energy The energy released in this process is so high that devastating bombs are also made on the same principle Hiroshima and Nagasaki we see that the same energy can be used by mankind to help itself or to destroy itself The choice lies in the judicious decision of mankind Example Noted Nuclear Nightmare When nuclear energy is harnessed for producing electricity it is a peaceful use of nuclear energy But it is a very dangerous process and accidents have occurred in some of the nuclear reactors world over Even in the absence of accidents the radioactive materials from reactors can slowly poison the surroundings and cause untold damage to plants animals and people 2 Non renewable Energy Resources present in limited amounts and cannot be renewed Coal provides approximately 67 of all the energy consumed Very complex and diverse energy resource that can vary greatly even within the same deposit Petroleum is a thick dark liquid which present in pockets under the earth s crust and has to be drilled out Also called crude oil Crude Oil is refined in refineries to give us various products like petrol diesel kerosene LPG Liquid Petroleum Gas octane furnace oil naptha used in fertilizer and chemical industries asphalt used in road surfacing and waterproofing paraffin lubricating oils and greases and many other substances Natural Gas occurs on top of petroleum deposits Basically methane gas Used as a domestic and industrial fuel Used as a fuel for locomotives Compressed Natural Gas CNG used as a fuel to run public transport vehicles Noted As combustion of natural gas is less polluting than coal and petroleum products Coal petroleum and natural gas we are using today took about 250 million years to form There is a limited amount of such fuels on earth and no new formation is taking place