RESOURCES: RENEWABLE & NONRENEWABLE

By: Anshuman Singh BBA 2

SOIL & LAND DEGRADATION

Soil degradation has two major components: the loss of soil through erosion and the loss of soil fertility. Both components lead to progressively lower crop yields, increased costs of production, and may end up in land abandonment and desertication. Soil tillage is the principle cause of degradation of cropped elds. Soil tillage causes rapid breakdown of soil organic matter - the key to soil fertility. How can soil degradation be avoided? The three biggest factors involved in soil degradation are a) soil tillage (breakdown of physical fertility); b) removal of crop residues (mainly by grazing or burning), and c) nutrient mining (not applying manure, compost or fertilizer in adequate amounts). The key therefore is to avoid land and soil degradation is to reduce soil tillage to a minimum, leave as many crop residues as possible, and replenish the nutrients removed by the crops.

LAND DEGRADATION

Land degradation is a process in which the value of the biophysical environment is affected by one or more combination of human-induced processes acting upon the land. It is viewed as any change or disturbance to the land perceived to be undesirable.Natural hazards are excluded as a cause, however human activities can indirectly affect phenomena such as floods and bushfires. It is estimated that up to 40% of the world's agricultural land is seriously degraded

The Major Causes: Land clearing and deforestation Agricultural mining of soil nutrients Urban conversion & Commercial Development Irrigation Poor farming techniques Pollution including industrial waste

EFFECTS OF LAND DEGRADATION

The main outcome of land degradation is a substantial reduction in the productivity of the land. The major stresses on vulnerable land include: Accelerated soil erosion by wind and water Soil acidification and the formation of acid sulfate soil resulting in barren soil Soil alkalinisation owing to irrigation with water containing sodium bicarbonate leading to poor soil structure and reduced crop yields Soil salination in irrigated land requiring soil salinity control to reclaim the land Soil waterlogging in irrigated land which. calls for some form of subsurface land drainage to remediate the negative effects Destruction of soil structure including loss of organic matter.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & RESOURCE USE

Economists now recognize that, along with physical and human capital, environmental resources should be viewed as important economic assets, which can be called natural capital. No longer do we consider the economic process of producing goods and services and generating human welfare to be solely dependent on the accumulation of physical and human capital. That is, an increasing number of economists now accept that there is a third form of capital or economic asset that is also crucial to the functioning of the economic system of production, consumption and overall welfare. This distinct category consists of the natural and environmental resource endowment available to an economy, which is often referred to generally as natural capital.

CLASSIFICATION OF TOTAL ECONOMIC VALUE OF AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS

Direct Use value Fish/aquaculture Transport Wild resources Recreation Scientific/educational Indirect Use value Flood Control Storm Protection Nutrient retention External ecosystem support Non-use values Biodiversity Culture/heritage

NATU RAL CAPITAL AN D S U STAI NAB LE D E V E LO PM E N

According to the weak sustainability view, there is essentially no inherent difference between natural and other forms of capital.As long as the natural capital that is being depleted is replaced with even more valuable physical and human capital, then the value of the aggregate stock comprising human, physical and the remaining natural capital is increasing over time. The strong sustainability view argue that physical or human capital cannot substitute for all the environmental resources comprising the natural capital stock, or all of the ecological services performed by nature. Essentially, this view questions whether, on the one hand, human and physical capital, and on the other, natural capital, effectively comprise a single homogeneous total capital stock. Thus the strong sustainability view suggests that environmental resources and ecological services that are essential for human welfare and cannot be easily substituted by human and physical capital should be protected and not depleted. Maintaining or increasing the value of the total capital stock over time in turn requires keeping the non-substitutable and essential components of natural capital constant over time.

In conclusion, the importance of natural resources to economic development is now well established. How a country manages its natural capital stock is critical for achieving sustainable economic development. On the other hand, poor policies and the inefficient mismanagement of natural resources can also be detrimental to growth and development. Of course, it will always be difficult to determine what exactly is lost when we deplete natural resources and degrade the environment. But at the very least, economic policies should be in place to ensure that welfare-damaging environmental externalities are corrected, the rents generated from the depletion of natural capital are maximised, and that these rents are reinvested into dynamic and innovative sectors in the rest of the economy

NATURAL RESOURCES ACCOUNTING

Natural resource accounting has emerged from the need to better understand the relationship between human, social and economic systems and those of the natural patrimony. Natural resource accounting is an accounting system that deals with stocks and stock changes of natural assets, comprising biota (produced or wild), subsoil assets (proved reserves), water and land with their aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Environmental and natural resources make important contributions to long-term economic performance and can therefore be considered economic assets. Among the services provided by the environment to society are inputs to production processes, such as waste disposal services provided by water and air, and outputs derived directly from nature such as recreational and ecological services. Because these services are not normally bought and sold at market prices, they are not measured by conventional economic accounts.

Over the past three decades, there has been increasing awareness of the interactions between societies and their natural environments. This awareness has been sharpened by concerns about resource scarcity, environmental degradation and global environmental issues such as climate change, and has motivated attempts to expand the scope of national accounting systems by including environmental assets and services.

A major purpose of an environmental accounting system is its capability to assist in the understanding and management of potential trade-offs between conventional economic development objectives and environmental goals as a tool of policy formulation. The theory of environmental management that has developed over the past three decades views the environment as a source of economic wealth whose value reflects the services provided to society by the environment. If these services were traded in conventional markets, they would presumably command a positive price reflecting what society would be willing to pay for them, as well as their scarcity. With this theory in mind, and linking it with the conventional economic accounts, one approach is to define an additional economic sector, i.e., Nature and to account for the non-marketed goods and services generated by this sector in a way that is similar to the treatment of marketed goods and services generated by conventional sectors

INTRODUCTION TO SOLAR ENERGY & ITS AVAILABILITY

Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar energy technologies include solar heating, solar thermal electricity and solar architecture, which can make considerable contributions to solving some of the most urgent problems the world now faces. Solar technologies are broadly characterized as either passive solar or active solar depending on the way they capture, convert and distribute solar energy.

In 2011, the International Energy Agency said that "the development of affordable, inexhaustible and clean solar energy technologies will have huge longer-term benefits. It will increase countries energy security through reliance on an indigenous, inexhaustible and mostly import-independent resource, enhance sustainability, reduce pollution, lower the costs of mitigating climate change, and keep fossil fuel prices lower than otherwise. These advantages are global. Hence the additional costs of the incentives for early deployment should be considered learning investments; they must be wisely spent and need to be widely shared

Due to the nature of solar energy, two components are required to have a functional solar energy generator. These two components are a collector and a storage unit. The collector simply collects the radiation that falls on it and converts a fraction of it to other forms of energy (either electricity and heat or heat alone). The storage unit is required because of the non-constant nature of solar energy; at certain times only a very small amount of radiation will be received. At night or during heavy cloud cover, for example, the amount of energy produced by the collector will be quite small. The storage unit can hold the excess energy produced during the periods of maximum productivity, and release it when the productivity drops. In practice, a backup power supply is usually added, too, for the situations when the amount of energy required is greater than both what is being produced and what is stored in the container. Of all the energy sources available, solar has perhaps the most promise. Numerically, it is capable of producing the raw power required to satisfy the entire planet's energy needs. Environmentally, it is one of the least destructive of all the sources of energy. Practically, it can be adjusted to power nearly everything except transportation with very little adjustment, and even transportation with some modest modifications to the current general system of travel. Clearly, solar energy is a resource of the future. People use energy for many things, but a few general tasks consume most of the energy. These tasks include transportation, heating, cooling, and the generation of electricity. Solar energy can be applied to all four of these tasks with different levels of success.

APPLICATIONS OF SOLAR ENERGY

Architecture and urban planning Agriculture and horticulture Solar lighting Solar thermal

Water heating Heating, cooling and ventilation Water treatment Cooking

WIND POWER & ITS POTENTIAL

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Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electricity, windmills for mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships. Wind power, as an alternative to fossil fuels, is plentiful, renewable, widely distributed, clean, and produces no greenhouse gas emissions during operation. Why wind Energy? Pollution Free and Nature friendly Very Good potential and fastest growing energy source Technology is becoming advanced and windmills are become more efficient. Sustenance of energy demand cannot be sustained through fossil fuels only Clean Development drive and Global warming,etc. What is a Wind Farm? A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used for production of electric power. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines, and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other purposes. A wind farm may also be located offshore. The most useful application of these Wind farms is in the generation of electricity.

The development of wind power in India began in the 1990s, and has significantly increased in the last few years. Although a relative newcomer to the wind industry compared with Denmark or theUnited States, India has the fifth largest installed wind power capacity in the world.[1] In 2009-10 India's growth rate was highest among the other top four countries. Tamil Nadu is the state with the most wind generating capacity followed by Maharashtra.

Barriers: Initial cost for wind turbines is greater than that of conventional fossil fuel generators per MW installed. Noise is produced by the rotor blades. This is not normally an issue in the locations chosen for most wind farms and research by Salford University shows that noise complaints for wind farms in the UK are almost non-existent.

HYDROPOWER AS A CLEAN SOURCE OF ENERGY

Hydro means water. Hydropower is the energy we make with moving water. Moving water has a lot of energy. We use that energy to make electricity. The water cycle will keep going forever. The water on Earth will always be there. We will not run out of it. That is why we call hydropower a renewable energy source. Hydropower is a clean source of energy. No fuel is burned, so the air is not polluted. It is the cheapest source of electricity, because the water is free to use. And we wont run out of waterit is renewable.

Hydro power is generated by using electricity generators to extract energy from moving water. Historically people used the power of rivers for agriculture and wheat grinding. Today, rivers and streams are re-directed through hydro generators to produce energy, although there are pros and cons as far as local ecosystems are concerned.

INTRODUCTION TO BIOFUEL

Biofuel: solid, liquid, or gaseous fuel consisting of, or derived from biomass recently living organismsor their metabolic by products, such as manure from cows. Fossil fuels: derived from long dead biological materials. Sugar crops Natural oils from plants like oil palm, soybean, or algae, Wood and its byproducts Flaxseed, rapeseed (primarily in Europe ) Waste from industry, agriculture, forestry, and households Biofuel is a type of fuel whose energy is derived from biological carbon fixation. Biofuels include fuels derived from biomass conversion, as well as solid biomass, liquid fuels and various biogases.[1] Although fossil fuels have their origin in ancient carbon fixation, they are not considered biofuels by the generally accepted definition because they contain carbon that has been "out" of the carbon cycle for a very long time.

Various plants and plantderived materials are used for biofuelmanufacturing.

Environment Aspect Renewable, Sustainable Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions Cleanly Burning

Economic Aspect
Increasing Energy Security Boosting Profitability of Agricultural and Conversion Controlling wastes

Biofuel is a type of fuel whose energy is derived from biological carbon fixation(In biology, carbon fixation is the reduction of carbon dioxide to organic compounds by living organisms). Biofuels are gaining increased public and scientific attention, driven by factors such as oil price hikes, the need for increased energy security, concern over greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels, and support from government subsidies. Bioethanol is an alcohol made by fermentation, mostly from carbohydrates produced in sugar or starch crops such as corn or sugarcane. Cellulosic biomass, derived from non-food sources such as trees and grasses, is also being developed as a feedstock for ethanol production. Ethanol can be used as a fuel for vehicles in its pure form, but it is usually used as a gasoline additive to increase octane and improve vehicle emissions. Biodiesel is made from vegetable oils and animal fats. Biodiesel can be used as a fuel for vehicles in its pure form, but it is usually used as a diesel additive to reduce levels of particulates, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons from diesel-powered vehicles. According to the International Energy Agency, biofuels have the potential to meet more than a quarter of world demand for transportation fuels by 2050 Biofuels benefits environment by reducing GHGs and reducing local pollution

Thank you for your attention