Sources of Energy

The basic sources of energy for power generation are coal, oil, nuclear fuels and gas. These sources are known as conventional sources of energy. These sources of energy will one day be used up and are exhaustible. The most reassuring and promising energy, which is abundant in supply and is inexhaustible is Non conventional sources of energy such as solar, wind, tidal, geothermal etc. Energy resources can be broadly classified as follows :

Non renewable sources: Most of the energy we use are from source like coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear fuels. These primary energy sources are called Non renewable sources because once they have been used up, they cannot be replaced.

Renewable sources: Sources of energy that can be used over and over again are called renewable sources. These sources can be used to produce electricity. Some of the renewable sources are: Energy from the sun (Heat and light energy) Energy from the wind (Kinetic energy) Energy from the waves and tides (Kinetic energy) Energy from earths core (Geothermal energy)

Classification of power plants A power plant makes use of any one of the energy sources to produce power. Depending on the type of energy source the power plants are classified as : Thermal power plant (It makes use of coal) Internal combustion engine plants (makes use of petrol or diesel) Gas turbine power plant (makes use of a permanent gas) Nuclear power plant (makes use of nuclear fuels) Solar power plant (makes use of the suns radiation heat) Tidal power plant (makes use of the power of tides in the sea) Hydro electric power plant (makes use of the potential energy of water) Wind power (makes use of energy available in wind) Geothermal power plant (makes use of heat energy available under the ground)