The Non Renewable Resources In India Environmental Sciences Essay

The Non-renewable energy sources are those natural resources which are available on the earth and that cannot be re-generated within a short span of time. These type of resources cannot be reproduced, grown, generated and once depleted there is no more available for future needs. Also considered non-renewable are resources that are consumed much faster than nature can create them. The Non-renewable energy has some advantages that make them viable in country like India. They are cheap and easy to use. A small amount of nuclear power can be used to produce large amount of power. Fossil fuel such as coal, petroleum and natural gases nuclear power like uranium and metal ors are some examples non renewable resource found in India.

Non renewable resources found in India:

Coal: Coal is the mainly used energy in India and occupies the leading position. Coal mining in India started in 1814.In India coal is obtained mostly from Damodar River, Son River, Godavari River, Andra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Meghalaya, Jammu and Kashmir.

Natural Gas: Natural gas in India has gained importance particularly in last decade. Natural gas in India can be obtains from Tripura State, Krishna Godavari field and gas associates in petroleum products.

Petroleum: Petroleum product has become an imperative source if energy in India. In India Petroleum products can be obtained from Digbol, Assam, around the Gulf of Khambat in Gujarat, off shore in Arabian Sea, spread out from Mumbai up to 100miles.

Depletion of Non Renewable resources in India:

Resource depletion is an economic term referring to the exhaustion of raw materials within a region. Use of resources beyond their rate of replacement is considered to be resource depletion. At present, the most important energy sources used by the Indian population are non-renewable sources of energy. Indian economy is largely based on fossil fuels, minerals and oil. The value increases because of the large demand, but the supply is decreasing. This has resulted in more efforts to drill and search other territories. The environment is being abused and this depletion of resources is one way of showing the effects. The consumption of petroleum has multiplied itself almost thirty times in the post-independence era.

The unimaginable usage of these resources has created an air of conservation requirements. These non-renewable resources of energy are now of a serious concern to the Indian government.

Causes for depletion of non renewable resources in India:

Over population: With the increasing popopulation there would be an increase in the use of consumer goods. To meet their demand natural resources such as minerals, forests, fossil fuels, etc will be exploited. Many of these resources are limited or non-renewable such as land, fossil fuels, minerals etc. Large-scale consumption of resources such as fossil fuel, minerals etc and high consumption of fertilizers and fossil fuel leads to pollution of air, water and soil. Human activity such as mining, destroying forests, consuming resources upsets the ecological balance in nature.A lot of human activities also lead to depletion of the ozone layer.

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Technological and industrial development: Technological and industrial development gives us an opportunity to use our natural resources in many new ways. Industrialization led to mass production, which means that we can produce more and more goods in a shorter period of time. However, this has rapidly increased the usage of minerals, fuels such as coal, petrol and packaging material such as paper and wood.

Excessive or Irrational use: The rise in human population along with growing urbanization and economic growth are leading to an overuse of resources. There is a limited capacity of the planet to meet the increasing demand for resources and to absorb the emissions and waste resulting from their use. In several cases it has been seen that the existing demand exceeds the carrying capacity of the environment. Fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas, take millions of years to form. But they are being used at a faster rate, leading to an energy crisis.

Non-Equitable distribution of Resources: non renewable resources are not distributing in a uniform way. At one place a particular resource may be in excess and in other places they may be scarcely available. In India, coal reserves are found in Jharkhand and Orissa but there are no known reserves in Punjab and Haryana. India. Oil is present in abundance in the Middle East but not so much in other parts of the world. This leads to exploiting the available resource to the maximum to create economic opportunities for the region.

Industrialization: Industry consists of manufacturing goods or providing services. Industrialization requires natural resources such as minerals, agricultural products and forest products as raw material. It also uses natural resources such as fossil fuels for providing energy in the process of manufacturing. Water is also used in many industrial processes. This causes natural resources to be depleted. Industry also uses land for factories offices, road and housing. Industrialization also leads to generation of waste and industrial pollution. All of this has an impact on the non renewable resources.

Mining: Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body like coal, oil, fuels, petroleum products etc. Mining activities are carried out for extracting mineral resources. They affect the local landscape due to large scale digging up processes. Mining may result in many negative effects such as water contamination, subsidence of land, air pollution and desertification. Desertification occurs when activities, such as mining cause a loss of moisture in the soil. An example of this is Goa, where manganese is found on the ground surface or a few meters below. This surface soil is stripped off for extracting the minerals and this has left a desert-like landscape behind.

Conservation of Non Renewable Resources:

Conservation of non renewable resources refers to efforts made to reduce its consumption. Conservation of resources can be achieved through increased efficient energy use, in conjunction with decreased energy consumption and/or reduced consumption from conventional energy sources.

Following steps should be taken to conserve non renewable resources in India:

Prohibiting wastage of resources: Wastage of resources should be discouraged. For example, using public transport in place of individual vehicles helps to conserve valuable petrol. Use of ‘car-pool’ system where several people with a common destination go together in one vehicle, saves petrol. Switching off fans, lights and coolers when not in use, using cooking gas economically, use of pressure cookers, using tube lights in place of electric bulb are some ways of conserving non-renewable resources which could help in a big way.

Use of substitute: Alternative sources of energy like solar energy, wind energy, tidal energy, energy from biomass (biogas), etc., can be used on a large scale to substitute the fossil fuels. Use of solar cookers and biogas for cooking must be encouraged.

New materials are being developed to substitute non-renewable resources. For example, plastics are now used to make products that once could be made only out of steel. The use of atomic energy can lessen our dependence on coal and oil.

Recycling resources: All types of metal wastes, glass and paper and plastic can be recycled and used again. The local kabadiwala collects all the junk and carp which is recycled and used again to make paper, plastic containers and metal articles. Although plastic is not a natural resource in itself (it is man-made) but uses up lot of fuel in its manufacturing process. Hence, recycling plastic helps to conserve fuels. Recycling paper helps to conserve forests.

Repair and reuse: Any object or appliance that doesn’t work should not be discarded. Instead we should repair and reuse it. The repair and reuse helps to conserve resources as it discourages production and wastage.