Mineral and Energy Resources — II

Energy is obtained from conventional sources like Coal, Petroleum, Natural gas, Hydel power, Thermal power, Nuclear power; and non-conventional energy sources like solar, wind, biogas, tidal, geothermal etc.

The energy can be classified (on the basis of source) as follows:

1. Conventional energy: These are of following types
   1. Coal
   2. Petroleum
   3. Natural Gas
   4. Hydel power
   5. Thermal power
   6. Nuclear power
2. Non-conventional energy: These are of following types
   1. Solar
   2. Wind
   3. Biogas
   4. Tidal
   5. Geothermal

Coal is a fossil fuel that is extracted from the ground using mining techniques. The common methods of coal extraction are surface mining and underground mining. Surface mining is used to obtain coal from deposits closer to the earth's surface. Underground mining is used to extract coal that is deep beneath the earth's surface.

Coal is a valuable and abundant natural resource that has played an important role in the economic development of many countries. It has been used to power everything from steam engines to electricity-generating power plants to iron and steel manufacturing plants. To highlight the valuable nature of coal and its impact on society and industry, it is referred to as 'black gold'.

Coal is formed from the remains of ancient plants and animals that died millions of years ago and were buried under layers of sediment. Over time, the heat and pressure from the sediment caused the remains to change into different types of coal, such as Anthracite, Bituminous, Lignite and Peat.

The different varieties of coal are:

1. Anthracite
2. Bituminous
3. Lignite
4. Peat

The best variety of coal is Anthracite because it contains 80% carbon and thus provide more energy on burning.

The main coal-bearing areas of India are Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh.

The state-wise distribution of coal is listed below:

1. Jharkhand — Jharkhand has the largest reserves of coal (33.53%) in India. The main coal fields are Jharia, Bokaro, Giridih, Hazaribagh and Karanpura.
2. Chattisgarh — The main coal field is Korba.
3. Odisha — The main coal fields are Talcher and Sambalpur.
4. Madhya Pradesh — Singrauli and Sholapur are the main coal fields. Others are Pench valley and Shahdol.
5. West Bengal — has about 18% of India's coal reserves. Ranigunj is the main coal field.
6. Maharashtra — Wardha valley, Mahapari, Kamptee Unrer and Chandrapur.
7. Telangana — Singreni
8. Tamil Nadu — Neyveli

Jharkhand ranks first in the Gondwana coal. It has 33.53% of total coal in India.

Three important states which form the tertiary coal distribution are Kashmir, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

Three major problems of coal mining industry are:

1. Destruction of Forest — Digging of Coal may destroy forest areas that serve as wildlife habitat. It affects the ecosystem and biodiversity.
2. Need of extensive transportation — Transportation requires huge infrastructure. Building transportation facilities destroys the landscape and increase pollution due to emissions of various vehicles.
3. Impact on miners' health — Underground mining is prone to cave-ins and explosions. The health of the people living close to the mines is at risk. Constant exposure to harmful gases can lead to respiratory diseases, lung cancer, black lung due to coal dust and congestive heart failure.

Two ways by which one can conserve coal are:

1. We should find alternative and renewable source to coal.
2. Saving energy by turning off appliances when not in use.

Petroleum is obtained from sedimentary rocks of the earth. Petroleum is taken out from On-shore oil-fields and Off-shore oil-fields.

The two most important areas of petroleum are:

1. Offshore sea at Mumbai High, Bassein and Aliabet.
2. Digboi, Naharkatiya, Rudra Sagar and Nunmati in Assam.

A few important oil fields of North East India are Digboi, Moran, Rudrasagar, etc.

A few important oil fields of West India are Ankleshwar, Kalol, Mehsana, Dholaka, etc.

Mumbai High is considered to be major oil bearing site in India because it produces more than one-third crude oil output of India.

There are 23 operational oil refineries in India.

A few problems of natural gas are:

1. It creates green house emission like other fossil fuels.
2. It cannot be used at large scale.
3. It is highly volatile and can be dangerous if handled or transported carelessly.
4. It is colorless, odorless and tasteless which makes its leak detection difficult.
5. Lack of required compression and transport facilities leads to flaring of gas. It may occur due to lack of technical help for operational safety.

The different type of electricity depending upon the raw material used for production are:

1. Hydroelectricity
2. Thermal Electricity
3. Nuclear Electricity

The main causes for the low production of hydel powers are:

1. Most of the river regimes in India are extremely erratic and highly seasonal (especially in south). Hence, these rivers cannot provide Hydel Power generation consistently.
2. Many rivers do not have natural waterfalls and huge capital has to be invested for constructing dams.
3. The sites suitable for generating hydroelectricity are located away from the consuming centres. As a result a lot of energy is wasted in transmission.

The factors needed for installing a hydroelectric project are:

1. Mountainous area where water falls from a height — the potential energy of falling water helps the turbine to move.
2. Permanent supply of water can be ensured by perennial rivers. Hence, snow-fed rivers of the Himalayas are of great use for the generation of hydropower.
3. Climate should be suitable i.e. the rivers should not freeze during winter.
4. Water of the river should be silt free or water should be stored in artificial reservoirs before releasing in hydel channel.
5. A gorge between the two hills is the most suitable site for building dams.
6. Flow of water should be uniform in the river. Any fluctuation would affect the generation of electricity.
7. There should be enough scope for electricity supply i.e. an industrial zone so that the loss of electricity is minimum in transmission.

The hydel power projects are important for India because:

1. Energy demand of India is huge and developing country like India need to promote clean, renewable energy source like Hydel power.
2. India has many rivers and geographical features that support the development of Hydel power.
3. Western Ghats receive heavy rainfall and has steep waterfalls which can be developed to produce hydroelectricity.

Hydel power projects score over thermal projects in following ways:

1. Hydel Power is inexhaustible and renewable source of power whereas coal — the major factor in thermal power — is exhaustible and non renewable.
2. It is cheaper to build the dams than building thermal power station.
3. Hydel power projects do not cause any pollution whereas thermal power plants find it difficult to get rid of wastage.
4. It is easy to transport it for long distances while thermal power projects are restricted to areas of coal production.

The main disadvantages of H.E.P are:

1. The location is very important for the construction of hydel power projects. Regions must be mountainous or hilly so that water falls from a height.
2. The supply of water may fluctuate thus affecting the generation of electricity.
3. Almost all the power projects face the problem of silting.

West Bengal was the first state to set up H.E.P project.

The disadvantages of thermal electricity are:

1. The thermal power is exhaustible and non-renewable.
2. Building thermal power station is expensive.
3. Thermal electricity production cause pollution.
4. Thermal power stations are restricted to areas of coal production

Three coal-based projects are:

1. Rihand in Uttar Pradesh
2. Vindhyachal in Madhya Pradesh
3. Talcher Kaniha in Odisha

The raw materials required for nuclear energy are Uranium, Plutonium, Beryllium and Thorium.

Uranium is available in the copper belt of Bihar and the rocks of the Aravali range in Rajasthan.

The nuclear power stations of India are:

1. Tarapur in Maharashtra
2. Narora in Uttar Pradesh
3. Kakrapara in Gujarat
4. Rana Pratap Sagar in Rajasthan

A few non-conventional sources of energy are Sun, Wind, Biogas, Tides, Geothermal energy.

The non-conventional sources of energy score over the conventional sources of energy in following ways:

1. These sources of energy are available freely and in abundance. In fact they are 'renewable' so there is no fear of them getting exhausted or depleted.
2. They are environment friendly and do not produce any waste or cause pollution.
3. They can be tapped at large scale at one place or in small amount at number of places at the same time, including remote and inaccessible areas like hilly terrains, deep forests or deserts.
4. When situated close to load centres, they can result in reduction of overall cost of electricity generation, making it cost effective.

The conventional energy sources are limited in nature and will exhaust completely if we continue to use them. These sources of energy also cause pollution and global warming. Therefore, we need to develop the alternative sources of energy which must be clean to use and renewable. These alternative sources should be environment friendly.

Two advantages that biogas has over the solar energy are:

1. It can be produced day and night while the solar energy is available only in day.
2. The production and storage of biogas is cheaper than solar energy.

Sun is the most abundant non-conventional source of energy on earth.

Tamil Nadu and Gujarat are two states where wind farm projects have been undertaken.

The advantages of producing electricity from water are:

1. Hydel Power is inexhaustible and renewable source of power.
2. Hydel power projects do not cause any pollution.

petroleum

anthracite

natural fossil fuel

renewable resource

supply water to cities and for power generation

to control floods

uranium and plutonium

in-exhaustible

Solar energy

Jharia