Good sources of energy

A good source of energy has the following characteristics:

It can provide an adequate amount of useful energy at a

steady rate.
•It does not exhaust (gets used up) over a long period of
time.
•It should be safe and convenient to use.
•It should be economical to use.
•It should be easy to store and transport.
 Solar Energy
Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is
harnessed using a range of ever-evolving technologies such as
solar heating, photovoltaics, solar thermal energy, etc.
It is an important source of renewable energy.

Solar energy is used today in a number of ways:

1. As heat for making hot water, heating buildings, and

cooking.
2. To generate electricity with solar cells or heat engines.
3. To take the salt away from sea water.
4. To use sun rays for drying clothes and towels.
Conventional sources of energy
The sources of energy which have been in use for a
long time are called conventional sources of energy.

Some of the general characteristics of these sources are:

•They are exhaustible.

•They cause pollution.
•They are expensive to be maintained, stored and
transmitted.

Examples include coal, petroleum, natural gas and

water power.
 Fossil Fuels
Fossil fuels are fuels formed by anaerobic
decomposition of buried dead organisms
over millions of years. A lot of fuels fall
under this category like coal, petroleum
and natural gas. They are presently the
largest source of energy used on earth.
They are exhaustible(limited in amount)
and cause air pollution.
 Nuclear Power Plant
Nuclear energy is produced by a process called nuclear fission in
which the nucleus of a heavy atom (such as uranium, plutonium or
thorium) when bombarded with low-energy neutrons can be split apart
into lighter nuclei. When this is done, a tremendous amount of energy is
released. In a nuclear reactor designed for electric power generation,
such nuclear fuel can be part of a self sustaining fission chain reaction
that releases energy at a controlled rate. The released energy can be
used to produce steam and further generate electricity.
Energy EE released in a nuclear reaction is given by:
E=Δmc2E=Δmc2
c=3×108 m/sc=3×108 m/s
Preferred unit of energy is electron volts
(eV): 1 eV=1.602×10−19 J1 eV=1.602×10−19 J
When Δm=1 amuΔm=1 amu, energy released
is about 931 MeV931 MeV.
 Advantages and disadvantages
of Nuclear Energy

Advantage of using nuclear energy is that it can be

used for production of large amount of energies.
Disadvantages of using nuclear energy are:

•The excess radiations from these reactors are harmful to

health and can affect many generations.
•Nuclear fuels can be misused to build destructive atomic
bombs.
•Cost of installation of nuclear power plants is very high and
needs to be done in remote areas for safety purposes.
 Production of electricity
Some common methods used to produce electricity are:

•Burning fuels (coal, petroleum, etc) in thermal power

stations.
•From wind energy in windmills.
•From nuclear energy in atomic power plants.
•From solar energy using solar panels.
•From hydel energy in hydroelectric power stations.
 Non-conventional sources of
energy
The sources of energy which are not used very commonly and
are newly introduced are called non-conventional sources of
energy.

Some of the general characteristics of these sources are:

•They are inexhaustible.
•They do not cause pollution.
•They are cheap to be maintained, stored and transmitted.

Examples include wind, tidal, solar, geothermal, and

bioenergy.
 Energy from sea
The energy potential from sea energy is large but its efficient
commercial exploitation is difficult.

The following types of energies can be harnessed from the sea:

•Ocean wave energy: Kinetic energy in the waves is used to

generate electricity.
•Ocean thermal energy: The temperature difference at different
depths of ocean is converted into mechanical and then into
electrical energy.
•Tidal energy: The potential energy stored in the tides is used to
harness electrical energy.
Solar cooker
Solar cooker is used for cooking purposes by
collecting the incident solar energy on the device.

•It focuses the incident heat and light on it using a

plane(or curved) mirror on a metallic box.
•The box and utensils are painted black from inside to
absorb more radiations.
•The box is coated with a thermally insulating
material to minimize loss of heat to the surroundings.
•The box is covered by a plane glass to trap the heat
energy using green-house effect.
Bioenergy and Wind energy
The dead parts of plants, animals and their wastes is called
Biomass(example: cattle dung, wood, crop residues, etc) and
energy stored in them is called Bioenergy. These fuels are
used to produce biogas by anaerobic decomposition of
biomass which is then used to produce electricity. The main
content of biogas is methane(45-70%) and waste products are
used as fertilizers.

Windmills are used to convert the kinetic energy of wind into

desired form like lifting water, running flour mill and
producing electricity. Wind farms are located at places where
wind blows continuously and with good velocity.
 Geothermal Energy

Geothermal Energy refers to heat of the Earth within 10 km from the surface. It can
also be processed for power. Geothermal energy has a temperature of
about 13000∘13000∘ C.
 Environmental consequences
of energy use
Exploiting any source of energy disturbs the
environment in some way or the other. Choice of the
source of energy to be used for an application should
be based on the cost, efficiency of the source and its
environmental consequences. For example,
CNG(Compressed Natural Gas) should be preferred as
fuel for vehicles rather than petrol.