Energy Resources

Conventional Energy Resources
Coal
Coal is the major energy_ resource in India. 67% of the energy requirement of the
country is met from coal. It is mainly used in industries such as iron and steel. Coal, also known as 'Black Gold', is classified into many varieties based on its quality and the amount of carbon content in it. Find out from the following table (6.10) the types of coal, their characteristics and the states in India where they are found.
India, which has about 21400 million tons of coal deposits, produces about 330 million tons annually. Many coalfields of India are located in the northeastern region of the sub-continent. About two thirds of the total production of coal is made form Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Orissa. One third of the total production is obtained form Anghra Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. Coal mining in India gives employment to about seven lakh people.
Petroleum
Petroleum, known as 'Mineral Oil', is mined from the layers of sedimentary rocks.
India has a reserve of about 4000 million tons, but only 25% of it is possible to be
excavated. About 33 million tons of petroleum is mined in India annually. 63% of this is from Mumbai High, 18% from Gujarat and 16% from Assam. The remaining 3% is rigged from Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Petroleum (crude oil) is purified at the oil refineries to produce various by-products. There are eighteen oil refineries in India, which can purify about 112.54 million tons of crude oil annually. Nowadays the demand for petroleum products in India is increasing and about 102 million tones of petroleum is needed annually. There is no doubt that this demand will increase in the future too. Our country imports about 60 million tones of petroleum and petroleum products annually.
Natural Gas
Deposits of natural gas are seen in the crust of the earth either independently or along with petroleum. About 23 billion cubic metres of natural gas is used in India. India's natural gas reserve is only 700 billion cubic metres.
Most of the deposits of natural gas is found in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Assam and Andaman-Nicobar islands. Andaman alone has about 47.6 million cubic metres of natural gas reserve. Recently it has been found out that Krishna-Godavari delta has large reserves of natural gas. India's annual natural gas production is about 27860 million cubic metres.
Electricity
The role of electricity in the growth and development of a nation is very large. Electricity is mainly produced in three ways. They are thermal electricity, hydro electricity and nuclear electricity.
Thermal Electricity
Thermal electricity is produced using coal, petroleum, natural gas etc. India has 310 thermal power stations. The state of Assam, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu depend mainly on thermal electricity. It is also produced in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Kerala, Orissa and Delhi. Seventy percent of the total production of electricity in India is from thermal power stations.
Hydroelectricity
In India the hydro electric power generation started with the installation of a power
station in 1897 for the supply of electricity to Darjeeling. In 1902 another power station was established at Sivasamudram waterfall in river Cauvery. At present twenty five percent of the electricity produced in India is from hydropower. It highly influences the economic development of India. India has the capacity to produce 150000 MW of hydroelectricity but only 25000 MW is generated. Hydroelectricity is mainly produced in Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Jammu & Kashmir, Meghalaya, Tripura and Sikkim.
Nuclear Electricity
Nuclear electricity is produced form minerals such as uranium and thorium. They are mined mainly form the state of Jharkhand and the Arvalli ranges of Rajasthan. Uranium is separated form the coastal sands of Kerala containing monazite. Fifty percent of the world’s thorium deposit is found in India. Tharapur (Maharashtra), Kalpakkam (Tamil Nadu), Rawath Bhatta (Karnataka) are the nuclear power station in India. India produces 272 MW of nuclear energy annually. This constitutes only about 3.4 percent of the total production of electricity in the country.
Non-Conventional Energy Sources
As the demand for energy increases the importance for non-conventional sources of energy such as sun, wind, tide, biogas etc, is increasing.
Important Features of non-conventional sources of energy
- Easily available
- Renewable
- Environment friendly
- Pollution free
Solar Energy
India, located in the tropical region, has immense potential for the conversion of solar energy. Sunlight can be directly converted to electricity through the photo voltaic echnology. It is possible to generate 20 M.W of electricity through this method from I sq. km. area. The largest solar energy conversion centre in India is located at Madhapuri, near Bhuj in Gujarat.
Wind Energy
Wind energy producing centres are established in many parts of the country. The initial expenses for erecting the wind mills are huge. Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Lakshadweep have wind energy producing centres. The largest centre is located at Tamil Nadu.
Bio gas
Bushes, wastes from crops, human and animal wastes are used to produce biogas. These materials are 'allowed to decay in order t6 produce the gas. This gas is used for domestic purposes in rural areas. Biogas can give higher temperature compared with kerosene and charcoal. Geothermal energy, tidal energy, wave energy etc. are other nonconventional sources of energy. In future they will also be developed and used more.
Conservation of Energy Resources
A law is enacted in India as 'Energy Conservation Act' for the conservation of energy resources. It came into effect in March 2002. It is aimed at the judicious use and conservation of energy.