• • Sustenance of life on earth requires energy. Energy is obtained from a variety of sources.
  • Earth’s resources provide us with everything we need to live today – clothing, cooking gas and other fuels; furniture and food; notebooks and other writing instruments; automobiles and houses; gasoline and roads; toys and other utensils.
  • We would still be living in Stone Age conditions if we didn’t have the ability to exploit and manoeuvre natural resources.
  • Natural resources are naturally existing materials that are valuable to humans and may be used according to the circumstances.

Learn more about natural energy resources in this article to prepare for competitive exams

Different Types of Natural Resources

• • Renewable resources are those that are accessible in an unlimited amount and may be used repeatedly. For instance, consider the forest, wind, and water.
  • Non-Renewable resources are those that are restricted in quantity owing to their non-renewable nature and whose availability may run out in the future. Examples include fossil fuels, minerals, and other natural resources.

Sun

• • The sun is composed of around 80% hydrogen, 20% helium, and barely 0.1 percent other elements. The sun’s radiant power is derived from nuclear fusion
  • The Energy from the sun heats the Earth’s surface, causing massive heat and pressure exchanges in weather patterns and ocean currents.
  • Solar energy also evaporates rainwater that accumulates within dams, where its movement is used to create electricity through hydropower.
  • It is non-polluting and contributes to the reduction of the greenhouse impact.
  • The Oil Crisis of the 1970s was the catalyst for bringing solar energy to the public’s notice.
  • It is predicted that utilising 1% of India’s total land area for the installation of solar energy fields may result in the annual generation of 1000 GWs of power
  • For the generation of electricity, solar energy is transformed into solar photovoltaic or solar thermal energy. It necessitates the use of a solar thermal device that includes an absorber, a heat transmission medium, and a heat storage.

Read more about renewable energy sources here.

Wind Energy

• • The uneven distribution of radiant heat from the sun on the Earth’s surface causes changes in the heat content of the air mass, as well as changes in its density.
  • Air movement is caused by these fluctuations, which are influenced by the Earth’s rotation, inclination, unequal distribution of land and ocean masses, and geographic anomalies. Wind is the term for the movement of this air.
  • The wind may be exploited in a variety of passive ways.
  • The capacity of the wind to remove heat from an item allows for cooling. The pace at which heat is dissipated is related to the air’s velocity.
  • Fire necessitates the use of combustion air. Controlling fresh air input allows you to quickly regulate the fire.
  • Wind energy is the kinetic energy associated with atmospheric air movement. Wind energy systems employ kinetic energy to generate more electricity.
  • Wind is considered a renewable energy source since it will blow as long as the sun shines.

Read about the classification of winds here.

Water (Hydropower)

• • The conversion of mechanical energy in flowing water into electricity is known as hydroelectricity.
  • It is created when falling water from dams, rivers, or waterfalls is used to power turbines, which then drive generators that generate energy.
  • Hydropower is a non-polluting type of energy that does not pollute the environment or the water.

Here is a list of major dams in India.

Coal

• • Coal is formed from decayed trees and plants that have been hardened over millions of years by pressure and heat.
  • It is the most accessible fossil fuel.
  • Carbonaceous organic matter is initially transformed into “peat,” which is largely composed of water. Peat is converted to coal by increased pressure and temperature.

Oil

• • Crude oil is a fossil fuel that may be transformed into a variety of energy sources such as diesel, gasoline, jet fuel, petrochemicals, and so on.
  • Oil is formed in shale rocks and subsequently penetrates other strata including sandstone or limestone. A cap rock traps the oil that must be extracted by drilling oil wells. These are made up of the remnants of plants and animals that formerly lived in the water.
  • It is a viscous, black liquid that contains combustible hydrocarbons as well as trace amounts of oxygen, nitrogen impurities, and sulphur. It is also known as light oil or mineral oil.

So, this is all about Natural Energy Resources. Practice mock tests prepared by subject experts for cracking competitive exams on the Testbook App.