Basis

Non-Conventional energy.

Conventional energy.

1. Example

Wind, Solar, Biomass,

Biogas, Tidal, Wave

Hydro-electricity etc.

Coal, Oil, Natural

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gas, Nuclear energy

etc.

2. Source

Natural local

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environment

Concentrated stock.

3. Normal State

A current of energy

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and income

Static store of energy

a capital.

4. Life time

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supply

Infinite

Finite

5. Cost at source

Fee

Increasingly expensive

6. Variation in supply

Fluctuating

Steady

7. Supply cost

Low

High

8. Scale

Small

Large

9. Safety

Mild Local hazards possible in operation

Most dangerous when faulty

10. Pollution

Little environmental impact confining the region

Massive environmental pollution : air water, soil, common and wider sped

11. Context

Rural , decentralized system

Urban, Concentrated system

Coal fills 27 per cent of the global energy budget. At the present rate use, it would carry its resources until the 22nd century. But the picture of oil resources is quite grim. Oil supplies some 134 squads a year; – a rate that would exhaust its present reserve in about 30 years. But consumption of oil is rising faster.

In India, all these commercial energy (coal, oil, electricity etc.) accounts for a little over half of the total energy used in the country. The rest comes from non­commercial sources like cow-dung, fuel wood and agricultural wastes. Though the share of the non­commercial sources has been coming down, consumption has increased almost double since 1953 this is leading to an energy crisis in India.