Classification of energy resources
Topic: Energy Resources of India: Conventional and Non-conventional · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 5 "Minerals and Energy Resources"
Meaning
Energy resources are grouped by how long they last and how much harm they do. Conventional sources are the ones people have used for a long time: firewood, cattle dung cake, coal, petroleum, natural gas and electricity (hydel and thermal). Most of them are exhaustible, meaning they can run out, and they pollute. Non-conventional sources are solar, wind, tidal, geothermal, biogas and atomic energy. They are renewable, more evenly spread, eco-friendly and cheaper once set up. This grouping comes from Class 10 NCERT.
Example
A village in Rajasthan that cooks with dung cake uses a conventional source. When a solar pump replaces its diesel pump, it has moved to a non-conventional source.
Don't confuse with
- Class 12 treatment of atomic energy: Class 12 calls nuclear minerals conventional because they can run out, yet it discusses them under the non-conventional heading. Class 10 clearly lists atomic energy as non-conventional. So "atomic energy is conventional in both NCERT books" is false.
- Renewable versus non-renewable: This is a different basis for grouping. Large hydro is conventional but renewable. India declared large hydro renewable in 2019.