Essay in 200 words on the need for diverse energy sources in india
Answers
Energy resources are very much important in the context of economic development of the country. With the growing industrialisation, mechanisation of agriculture, and the development of transportation sector, the demand for energy resources is increasing day by day.
Thus a positive correlation exists between economic growth and demand for energy. Moreover, consumption of energy for domestic uses and public lighting has also been increasing.
In India between 1952-53 to 1987-88 the GDP had increased annually at the rate of 3.7 per cent while the energy consumption had increased at the rate of 6.2 per cent per annum. Inspite of this, the per capita consumption of energy in India is low in comparison to that of developed countries. In India, more than half of the population does not possess the capacity to purchase commercial energy.
Again out of the total energy consumed, about half of it is obtained from non-commercial energy. In India the noncommercial sources of energy, mostly used by rural poor, are obtained from firewood, dung cakes and agricultural waste. But the commercial energy is obtained from oil and natural gas, coal, hydro-electricity and a little volume of nuclear energy.
Essay # Types of Energy Resource in India:
Oil and Coal:
In India the consumption of commercial energy is too much dependent on oil and coal. About 47 per cent of the demand for commercial energy is met through petroleum oil. With the growing oil crisis, the importance of coal has also been realised in the country. Coal has an advantage over other fuels as it can be suitably converted into other types of energy like electricity, oil and gas.
In India, the coal is the principal source of electricity, at present with the significant development of thermal power projects based on coal. About 60 per cent of the total electricity generated in India is available from these coal based thermal power projects.
Power:
Power or electricity is considered as one of the major sources of commercial energy. Power contributed about 28.7 per cent of the total commercial energy consumption of the country in 1987-88. In India, the development of power is progressing at a considerable scale.
If we look at the installed capacity then the total installed generating capacity in India has increased from 2,300 M.W. in 1950 to 2,55,000 MW in 2015 (March).