what is the difference between conventional source of energy and conventional energy?
Answers
Energy that has been used from ancient times is known as conventional energy. Coal, natural gas, oil, and firewood are examples of conventional energy sources. (or usual) sources of energy (electricity) are coal, oil, wood, peat, uranium.
Conventional power sources use up resources from earth's crust, Oil,coal, uranium etc.
This answer was an attempt to explain the school of thought behing classification of nuclear power as a conventinal power source. There's always debate on it's actual classification. You will find it mentioned as a conventional, non renewable as well as the recent renewable source.
Explanation:
Energy can be defined as the capacity or ability to do work. It plays an important role in our day to day life as it is required in every field like industry, transport, communication, sports, defence, household, agriculture and more. There are plenty of energy sources to get energy. These energy resources can be classified as Conventional and Non-conventional sources of energy. Let us see how they differ from each other!
Conventional sources of energy:
Conventional sources of energy are the natural energy resources which are present in a limited quantity and are being used for a long time. They are called non-renewable sources as once they are depleted, they cannot be generated at the speed which can sustain its consumption rate. They are formed from decaying matter over hundreds of millions of years.
These resources have been depleted to a great extent due to their continuous exploitation. It is believed that the deposits of petroleum in our country will be exhausted within few decades and the coal reserves can last for a hundred more years. Some common examples of conventional sources of energy include coal, petroleum, natural gas and electricity.
Non-conventional sources of energy:
Non-conventional sources of energy are the energy sources which are continuously replenished by natural processes. These cannot be exhausted easily, can be generated constantly so can be used again and again, e.g. solar energy, wind energy, tidal energy, biomass energy and geothermal energy etc. The energy obtained from non-conventional sources is known as non-conventional energy. These sources do not pollute the environment and do not require heavy expenditure. They are called renewable resources as they can be replaced through natural processes at a rate equal to or greater than the rate at which they are consumed.