Energy is the primary and most universal measure of all kinds of work by human beings and nature. Whatever happens in the world is only the expression of flow of energy in either of its forms. Energy is a crucial input in the process of economic, social and industrial development. Power plays a great role wherever man lives and works. The living standard and prosperity of a nation vary directly with the increase in the use of power. According to world energy report, we get around 80% of our energy from conventional fossil fuels like oil (36%), natural gas (21%) and coal (23%).
The electricity requirement of the world is increasing at an alarming rate due to industrial growth, increased and extensive use of electrical gadgets. Out of the known World petroleum reserves, only a part may be technically economically feasible to explore. This fact, coupled with the present and expected consumption rates implies that these reserves may not last beyond the next 30 years. For India, the situation could be even more difficult. Given limited reserves, present known stocks may not last even 10 years at the current consumption rate. It is well known that the time is not so far when all these sources will be completely exhausted. Nuclear energy is a comparatively clean source of energy. However, safe handling of nuclear energy reactor is a sophisticated task and only around 7% of the world’s total energy requirement is being satisfied by it today.
As human needs know no bounds, today most of the nations worldwide have been passing through a phase of power deficit. The crisis is more critical among the developing nations. India is one of the five fast developing countries. India has made rapid strides towards economic self reliance over the last few years. On the energy demand and supply side, India is facing severe shortages. In India, energy demand is increasing at the rate of 9% per annum and supply is not keeping pace. Present deficit of electrical energy is 8%. India, being one of the most populated and developing countries, will be affected to the maximum. Presently most of the petroleum products are imported and steady rise in their prices is affecting the Indian economy. At one end, the rapid industrialization has led to increased use of fossil fuels such as coal, oil etc, to meet its power and steam requirement. For which, the developing nations like India are paying huge import bills putting stress on its economy. At other end, a naturally available energy sources such as solar, wind, biomass, biogas etc are not effectively used. As conventional energy sources are depleting day by day, utilization of alternative energy sources is the only solution.
Our country can step this financial drain only by selfsustainability in the energy sector. India has huge prospects in developing energy through alternate sources. India has potential to generate 45,000 MW from wind energy, 19,000 MW from biomass energy, 15,000 MW from small hydro projects. In addition to it the urban areas in India produce @ 30 million of solid waste and 4400 Million cubic meters of liquid waste every year. The same can be exploited to generate power and meet a part of the ever increasing demand of urban areas. Wind power has also proved to be a viable energy alternative. In India, more than 1.3 giga watts of wind energy capacity has been added over the past six years exclusively in the private sector, which either sells electricity to the electric utilities or wheels it over the utility grid for selfconsumption.
Many rural communities consume little electricity, and extending electricity grids to meet their energy needs may prove more costly and take longer than harnessing new and alternative sources of energy already available in these communities — wind, solar, and biomass — through Renewable Energy Technologies (RETs). The attraction of these sources lies primarily in their abundance and ready access. The RETs for exploiting these sources include biogas plants, solar lanterns, solar home lighting systems, improved cook stoves, improved kerosene lanterns, solar water pumping systems, solar water heating systems and water mills. Solar energy panels are little costly considering our average economic standard. Studies indicate that cooking with biogas (a highly combustible fuel comprising methane, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, hydrogen and hydrogen sulphide produced through anaerobic fermentation of organic matter) can be cheaper than cooking with any commercial fuel. Due to limited oil reserves, India has to depend on substantial imports for meeting its present and future requirement. The bulk of demand for oil is from transport sector and in order to reduce the pressure from this sector it is necessary to explore possibilities of developing substitute fuels like biomass and producer gas.
What is lacking at present is the focused desire and serious efforts in research and development. The bureaucratic think tank should channelise their ideas and funds in this direction so that by the time the requirement reaches its necessity level, adequate technology can take over. Therefore, the need of the hour is to conserve petroleum by its judicious use, substituting it by other resources wherever techno-commercially feasible and restricting its use only to the essential needs. The increased power demand, depleting fossil fuel resources and growing environmental pollution have led the world to think seriously for other alternative sources of energy. Basic concept of alternative energy relates to issues of sustainability, renewability and pollution reduction. In reality alternative energy means anything other than deriving energy via fossil fuel combustion. Various forms of alternative energy sources are solar, wind, biogas/biomass, tidal, geothermal, fuel cell, hydrogen energy, small hydropower etc. To overcome energy crisis, government has developed many projects related to alternative energy sources. The new agricultural technologies can be developed based on non-conventional energy sources. Solution to long-term energy problem will come only through Research and Development in the field of alternative energy sources.
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