Power Resources of India

Energy is a basic requirement for economic development. Every sector of the national economy – agriculture, industry, transport, commercial and domestic – needs inputs of energy. The economic development plans implemented since Independence necessarily required increasing amounts of energy to remain operational. As a result, consumption of energy in all forms has been steadily rising all over the country. In this background, there is an urgent need to develop a sustainable path of energy development. Promotion of energy conservation and increased use of renewable energy sources are the twin planks of sustainable energy. The energy resources can be divided into renewable and non-renewable resources.

• Renewable energy resources: It includes Biomass, Wind, Hydro-power, Geothermal and Solar sources. It can be used again and again.

• Non- renewable energy resources: It is that energy which is extracted from from the fossil fuels (coal, crude oil, natural gas) and uranium. Fossil fuels are mainly made up of Carbon. It is believed that fossil fuels were formed over 300 million years ago, when the earth was a lot different in its landscape.

India is presently one of the least energy efficient countries in the world. We have to adopt a cautious approach for the judicious use of our limited energy resources. For example, as concerned citizens we can do our bit by using public transport systems instead of individual vehicles; switching off electricity when not in use, using power-saving devices and using non-conventional sources of energy. After all, “energy saved is energy produced”.