321 E Lesson 14
321 E Lesson 14
321 E Lesson 14
Resource Management
14
Notes
ENERGY CONSERVATION
If you were asked, "where does your energy to work come from"? You would
probably reply, from the food that you eat. Similarly, the energy used for cooking
food comes from burning wood, coal, cowdung cakes, kerosene, gas and elec-
tricity. The energy to run your fan or T.V. comes from electricity. In this way, you
are all aware of using energy in its different forms. But have you ever stopped to
think what the world would be like if there was no light or heat from the sun or if
there was no electricity to light up your home? You are also aware the electricity
can be in short supply and as a result there are power cuts for short/long
durations.
In this lesson, we will try and learn more about the sources of energy and the need
to make wise use of all sources of energy available to us. We shall also try and find
new and innovative sources of energy to fulfill our daily energy
requirements.
OBJECTIVES
After reading this lesson, you will be able to-:
explain the meaning of the term 'energy';
classify the various sources of energy as renewable and non renewable;
discuss the importance of energy conservation;
suggest methods of conserving energy;
identify energy options for the future.
Notes You must have seen that use of energy always brings about some change -a fan
moves, a stove burns to give heat, a torch gives light, a solar calculator works
when light falls on it or a pump brings up water. You can perhaps quote many
more examples. In all cases, some work is being done and the factor which pro-
vides the capacity for doing this work is known as energy.
The question now is, where does energy come from? .
Sun is the source of most natural energy in this world.
You may disagree and say that you get your energy from, say, fire, electricity, light,
etc. You are right, of course. Let us examine this in a little detail.
The energy that you get from fire comes from burning wood, coal, oil or
natural gas. All these substances are known as fuels. Apart from wood, the
other fuels are also known as fossil fuels because they are obtained from
beneath the earths surface. Over millions of years, the suns energy trans-
formed dead plant material into coal/oil/natural gas. So we can say that most
fuels derive their energy from the sun.
Electricity is produced with the help of moving water, steam, coal or oil. You
already know that coal and oil derive their energy from the sun. Moving water,
too, derives its energy from the sun as it is a part of the water cycle caused by the
sun.
There are some other sources of energy like wind, nuclear fuel, geothermal en-
ergy, etc. Have you heard of windmills? When the sun causes a change in the air
temperature, a wind is caused and we use the energy of this moving wind for
various purposes. The energy released during nuclear reactions in nuclear fuels
like plutonium and uranium is also used to produce electricity. Geothermal energy
Renewable Non-renewable
Notes
You yourself must have observed that the ever increasing population is creating an
increasing demand for energy. Increasing number of people need more houses to
live in and this leads to increased felling of trees to provide timber and furnishing.
At the same time, more coal, kerosene and gas are needed to cook the food for
more people. More people today need more electricity to light their home, to run
their coolers and geysers, to run washing machines, computers, etc., which results
in increased use of power leading to power cuts. What steps do you think should
be taken to reduce or close this gap between demand and supply of energy? We
have two options before us:
(i) increase the supply
(ii) reduce the demand
Since supply of energy is limited, we are left with the second option, i.e. to reduce
demand of energy. How can we do this?
By conservation and wise use of energy available.
2. Energy saved is energy generated
You must all be familiar with a bank. Whatever money you manage to save, you
put in a bank and after some time you can see your savings grow, if you are careful
to take out less money than you put in. If at any point of time, you start using the
money faster than you put in it you will soon run out of money and will have to face
a shortage.
Now, imagine that there is an energy bank. Whatever energy you save in your
daily activities gets accumulated in this energy bank so that you can use it in future.
As your energy savings grow, there will be less pressure to produce more en-
ergy. Similarly, the energy that you save could be used elsewhere. For example, if
you decide to have a daytime wedding in the family, with no decorative lights, the
electricity you save could perhaps prevent a couple of power cuts in the city.
Every persons motto today should be:
Save on Something (S.O.S.)
236 HOME SCIENCE
Energy Conservation MODULE - 3
Resource Management
3. Fuels are limited
Fuels are the most common sources of energy and you have already learnt that the
deposits of coal, gas and oil are limited. A look at the chart given below will tell
you where we stand today in terms of their availability to us in the years to come.
Fuel Known supplies (in years) When likely to run out Notes
1. Natural Gas about 30 AD. 2035
2. Oil about 50 AD. 2055
3. Coal about 280 AD. 2285
Notes
INTEXT QUESTIONS 14.4
1. Fill in the blanks:
(i) _________________are more energy-efficient than bulbs.
(ii) _________________chokes consume one third energy as compared
to traditional chokes.
(iii) ______________ coloured walls help in reducing the lighting re-
quirement of a room.
(iv) More power is consumed by __________________ refrig-
erators.
(v) Energy saving is guaranteed by using products bearing the
________________mark.
2. State whether the following statements are true or false and correct the false
statements:
(i) Wood stoves are very heat efficient.
(i) Cookers which work on solar energy save a lot of fuel.
(ii) Sandwich bottom pans take a long time to heat.
(iii) Small burners are suitable for small vessels.
(iv) Food should be eaten as soon as it is cooked to avoid reheating.
(v) Driving in the correct gear increases work efficiency by 50%.
(vi) Wear and tear of engines depends upon the state of the air filter.
(vii) Computers should not be switched off during the day.
(viii) Wastage of energy in the office does not affect you personally.
(ix) Street lights need light sensitive switches.
Ordinarily, a small biogas plant fed by the manure of 2-3 animals can produce
enough gas for the daily cooking and lighting needs of a family of four persons. In
addition, biogas can be used to pump water or run small motors of less horse-
power.
Some other advantages are:
The sludge or digested waste is an excellent fertilizer and increases the yield of
crops and vegetables.
It keeps the environment around the house clean since all animal manure is fed
into the biogas plant.
It prevents eye and lung diseases caused due to smoke from firewood.
It conserves forests because wood is no longer used as fuel.
It generates employment to masons and labourers needed to set up more
biogas plants.
2. Solar Energy
Solar energy is available free of cost and is absolutely non-polluting. It has been
3. Hydel Energy
Hydel refers to water. Surely, all of you must have heard of big hydroelectric
projects in our country like Bhakra-Nangal Project or the Damodar Valley Cor-
poration (DVC), etc. These are enormous projects set up at the cost of crores of
rupees and they generate lots of electricity. With the growing demand for electric-
ity, the need to set up more such projects is being felt. But since most of the major
sites on the big rivers have already been used for the purpose, there is very little
scope of setting up more big projects. Then, what is the alternative? We have to
now devise and set up microhydel projects.
It is realised that a small quantity of water falling from a great height can produce
as much power as a large quantity of water falling from a much shorter height.
Thus, the smaller rivers can be used to set up microhydel projects. The advan-
tages of installing such micro projects are:
They do not require heavy investment on installation.
They are comparatively easy to maintain.
They can be set up to supply electricity locally to geographically far flung
areas which are not covered by the national grid system.
Local supply of electricity reduces cost of distribution.
Sun
Wind Notes
Water
Sources of
What is ENERGY Fuel
Energy
Nuclear fuel
Electricity
Geothermal
Renewable Non-renewble
(Unlimitted) (limited)
TERMINAL EXCERCISES
1. Explain with examples what you understand by the term energy.
2. Give two examples each of renewable and non-renewable sources of energy
in your locality.
3. List five suggestions you would give a housewife to conserve energy in her
home.