Question

Highlight the main sources of Power in India.

Answer 1

In India coal, mineral oil and hydroelectric power are the three major sources of energy. The fourth source of energy is nuclear power.

1. COAL

It is the most important industrial fuel till present. Alongwith this, it is used as an important raw material in iron and steel and chemical industries. 60% of the total carbonic demand in the country is fulfilled from coal and lignite.

Coal is the most extensive of all the mineral reserves. Our country is one of the three largest coal producing countries in the world.

Nearly 90% of coal produced in India is used in thermal power plants. Punjab has three thermal power units, two in Ropar and one in Bathinda town. With these, the problem of shortage of electricity has been solved to a large extent. There is a great demand of coal in the iron and steel industry. One – fifth of the total production is used in this industry. Most of the remaining part is used in brick kilns, rail engines and for providing energy to the cement and fertilizer industries.

2. MINERAL OIL AND NATURAL GAS

The consumption of mineral oil as a source of energy has increased significantly in the world. Countries having its excessive reserves have entered the category of rich countries through oil exports. These are mainly the Middle East countries like United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, etc.

India has many areas with known reserves of mineral oil. But commercial production is carried out from a very little area. According to an estimate, oil reserves are spread over 10 lakh square km of area in the country which is equal to one –third of the total area of the country. These are found in the Ganga and Brahmaputra plains; coastal belts; and continental shelves; Gujarat plains; Thar desert; and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.Natural gas plays very important role in our life. Its reserves are usually found along with the oil fields. Therefore, where ever oil reserves are found, natural gas is also found at that place. However, natural gas may also occur separately.Natural gas is a clean and very good source of energy. It is used as a raw material in petro–chemical industry. Establishment of powerhouses based on natural gas takes less time as compared to other sources of energy. It also helps in increasing the agricultural production in the country. Nowadays, it is also used in manufacture of fertilizers. Natural gas is easily transportable over long distances, easily through pipelines from one place to another. At present, gas is being transported from regions of Mumbai and Gujarat to Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.The gas used for cooking is called as the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). Its use is increasing for cooking purposes both in the villages and cities. This is a fast and clean fuel. Its demand as domestic fuel for other industries will help in reducing the indiscriminating cutting of our forests. Since, there is a wide gap between the demand for the cooking gas and its fulfillment through the domestic sources, therefore, LPG has to be imported. In this area, alongwith the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL), other organizations like Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC), Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HP) are also working. Now, private investment is also being welcomed in this sector.

3. THERMAL AND NUCLEAR POWER:

Thermal power is generated by using coal, petroleum and natural gas in thermal power houses. These mineral resources which are used as a raw material in the generation of thermal power are also called as the fossil fuels. They can not be used more than once or they are non–renewable resources. This is their major disadvantage or demerit. Large quantity of coal –ash is left behind near the thermal power houses after the use of coal which endangers the surrounding environment. On the other hand, the use of coal and petroleum also causes pollution in the atmosphere. Therefore, thermal power like the hydel power is free of pollution for the far off areas similar to the hydel power.

Electricity can also be generated from the atomic fuel or heavy water besides coal, petroleum and gas. You might be knowing well about the hydel power. Electricity generated from water is called hydel power; from coal, petroleum and gas is called as thermal power and that produced from atomic fuel or heavy water is known as atomic power.

ATOMIC POWER

Atomic power stations established in those regions where the other sources of energy are not available or sufficient are not fulfilling their need. India is considered a progressive country in the peaceful utilization of the atomic power in the medical and agricultural areas. The country has 4 centres of nuclear energy. These include Tarapur on the Maharashtra –Gujarat border; Rawatbhata near Kota in Rajasthan; Kalapakkam in Tamilnadu, and Nowrang in the Bulandshahr district of western Uttar Pradesh. In the 1994–95, their total production was 5.6 billion KW which was a little less than 2% of the total electricity production of the country. Continuous exploration and development tasks are going on in the country so that proper care of atomic power houses, their maintenance and manufacture of atomic fuel, could be accomplished in the country itself.

NON –CONVENTIONAL SOURCES OF ENERGY:

In these sources, the use of energy like solar energy, wind energy, tidal energy, geo –thermal energy and energy derived from organic products, is very old.In the present period, their importance is increasing day by day due to their specific characteristics and some drawbacks of conventional sources. One of the main characteristics of these sources is that all these inexhaustible resources are renewable or mostly are still unused. The biggest advantage of the non–conventional sources is that they are very cost effective. Besides this, they can be used in the coastal, hilly or desert like remoter and barren lands.

Wind mill energy is very helpful in providing irrigation facilities in the rural areas. It is estimated that wind is used for producing 2000 MW of electricity. Gujarat, Tamilnadu, Maharashtra and Orissa are the most important areas where windmill centres are working at many places and electricity produced by these centres is added into the grid system.

Tidal energy is a cheap and inexhaustible source of energy. Runn of Kachchh and Cambay are the most suitable places for generating electricity through tidal energy because tidal water rise very fastly in these narrow inlets.

Geo –thermal energy has not yet been properly introduced in the electricity generation of the country because it is available in very small amount in the country. Efforts are being made to produce electricity from hot water geysers located in Manikaran in Himachal Pradesh.

SOLAR ENERGY

Solar energy is an inexhaustible source of energy. It is omnipresent and also has large potentialities. Solar energy can be used very cheaply for water-heaters, cooking, air-conditioning, refrigeration, removing water salinity, distillation etcIt is a future source of energy because other sources of energy like coal and petroleum will be finished in the near future.