Conventional energy sources

Topic: Energy Resources of India: Conventional and Non-conventional · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 5 "Mineral and Energy Resources"

Meaning

Conventional energy sources are energy sources that people have used for a long time. They include firewood, cattle dung cake, coal, petroleum, natural gas and electricity (hydel and thermal). Most of them are exhaustible (they can run out) and polluting. They still give India most of its energy, about 96% of primary energy in FY 2024-25 [4]. They also sit at the centre of India's worries about energy security, pollution and climate change.

Explanation

What counts as "conventional"

• Class 10 NCERT list:
• firewood
• cattle dung cake
• coal, petroleum, natural gas

• electricity, both hydel and thermal

• Hydel electricity: electricity made when falling water at a dam turns turbines.

• Thermal electricity: electricity made by burning coal, petroleum or natural gas. The heat makes steam, and the steam turns turbines.
• Class 12 NCERT uses the term mineral fuels. It lists coal, petroleum, natural gas and nuclear minerals (uranium, thorium) as conventional and exhaustible.
• Not every conventional source runs out:
• Firewood is renewable, but only if forests grow back.
• Hydel power uses flowing water, yet Class 10 still lists it as conventional.
• So "conventional" means long in use. It does not simply mean "exhaustible".

How fossil fuels, the core of the mix, form

• Fossil fuel: a fuel formed from the remains of plants and animals buried long ago.
• Formation chain:
• Plants and animals die. Sediment (mud and sand) buries them.
• Over geological time (millions of years), heat and pressure act on them. Very little oxygen is present.

• The remains change into coal (mostly from plants) or petroleum and natural gas (mostly from tiny sea organisms).

• Mineral class: fossil fuels are organic (made of carbon from living things), non-metallic and exhaustible. They cannot be replaced within a human lifetime.

• Pollution chain:
• Fossil fuels store carbon.
• Burning them releases this carbon as CO₂ (carbon dioxide).
• CO₂ drives global warming. Fossil fuels are the main source of CO₂.

India's dependence on conventional sources

• India's Total Primary Energy Supply (TPES) mix, FY 2024-25 [4]:

Source	Share of TPES
Coal (including lignite)	59.21%
Crude oil	29.79%
Natural gas	7.12%
All others (hydro, nuclear, renewables, etc.)	about 3.9%

• Coal alone supplies nearly three-fifths of primary energy [4].
• Installed capacity ≠ generation:
• Non-fossil sources made up over 54% of installed power capacity by July 2026 [2].
• But solar and wind work only when the sun shines or the wind blows.
• So coal still produces most of the electricity people actually use [4].

Main features (and problems)

• Exhaustible: fuel stocks are limited.
• Polluting: they release smoke, CO₂ and ash.
• Unevenly spread: they are found in only a few regions, so energy has to be carried over long distances.
• Recurring cost: fuel must be bought again and again. Non-conventional sources are the opposite: they cost a lot to set up but little to run.

Where it occurs

• Coal: concentrated in Jharkhand, Odisha and Chhattisgarh, in the Chota Nagpur Plateau coalfields.
• Petroleum: offshore Mumbai High (Arabian Sea, off Maharashtra) and Assam.
• Imports fill the gap:
• About 89.44% of crude oil was imported in FY 2024-25, up from about 89% in FY 2023-24 [4].
• India also imports much of its natural gas (as LNG, liquefied natural gas).

• It also imports coking coal (high-grade coal needed to make steel).

• Rural India: firewood and cattle dung cake met over 70% of rural household energy needs (NCERT, Class 10 estimate).

• Policy response in rural homes: the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), launched in May 2016, gives poor households deposit-free LPG connections.
• 10.33 crore connections had been released by 1 July 2024 [6].
• 25 lakh more were approved for FY 2025-26 [5].

Don't confuse with

• Non-conventional energy sources: newer sources such as solar, wind, tidal, geothermal, biogas and atomic energy. Most are renewable, spread more evenly and low in pollution. Conventional sources are mostly exhaustible and polluting.
• Fossil fuels: only coal, petroleum and natural gas. "Conventional" is a wider group. It also covers firewood, dung cake and hydel electricity, none of which are fossil fuels.
• Non-fossil ≠ renewable: nuclear power is non-fossil but not renewable. Class 12 calls nuclear minerals conventional (exhaustible) but discusses nuclear energy under "Non-conventional Energy Sources". Class 10 lists atomic energy as non-conventional.
• Biogas vs dung cake: both come from dung. Dung cake (burnt directly) is conventional. Biogas (mostly methane, made when dung rots without air) is non-conventional.

Prelims Hooks

• Class 10 NCERT classification: firewood, cattle dung cake and electricity (hydel and thermal) are conventional. Biogas and atomic energy are non-conventional.
• India's TPES order, FY 2024-25: coal 59.21% > crude oil 29.79% > natural gas 7.12% [4].
• Fossil fuels are organic, non-metallic, exhaustible minerals and the main source of CO₂.
• Crude oil import dependence, FY 2024-25: about 89.44% [4].
• Trap: "All conventional sources are exhaustible" is wrong. Firewood is renewable if forests regrow, and hydel power uses flowing water.
• Coal belt: Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh (Chota Nagpur Plateau). Oil: Mumbai High (offshore) and Assam.

Mains Points

• Energy security and transition (GS-III):
• About 96% of primary energy comes from fossil fuels, and about 89% of crude oil is imported [4]. This leaves India open to global price shocks, supply cuts and a bigger import bill.
• Response: the target of 500 GW of non-fossil capacity by 2030, announced at COP26 (2021) [3]. Non-fossil capacity had reached 300.50 GW by July 2026 [2].

• Challenge: solar and wind are intermittent, so India needs storage, grid upgrades and a plan for workers in coal-belt regions.

• Rural cooking energy (GS-I/III):

• Firewood use leads to forest loss, and women and children walk farther to collect it.
• Burning dung cake means the dung is lost as manure (natural fertiliser), so soil fertility falls.
• Indoor smoke harms the health of women who cook.

• PMUY has improved access to LPG [6]. But whether families can afford refills decides if they really switch. Biogas and improved cookstoves are local, renewable alternatives.

• Uneven distribution:

• Coal and oil are found in only a few places (Chota Nagpur, Mumbai High, Assam). So fuel or power must travel long distances.
• Sun, wind and biomass are found almost everywhere. They let power be made locally, closer to remote and rural areas.

Related concepts

• Classification of energy resources
• Non-conventional energy sources
• Fossil fuel
• Firewood and dung cake

Read more

• Energy and its classification: conventional and non-conventional sources