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The problem of energy crisis
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The growth of human being has travelled a long journey. It was the greatest achievement of primitive man when he discovered fire with the help of a stone. With this human history moved very fast.
Later on a number of discoveries and inventions were made which changed human life completely. Energy is such a great invention which made our life more and more comfortable. It has become the most needed necessity for us. It has also created a crisis.
In the industrially advanced world of today, the demand for energy is increasing day by day. We have machines and factories, we have buses, cars, trains and planes, we have ships and submarines.
Energy is needed to run them. But this is not all. Man is hankering for a cosy and comfortable life. Hence he has become a little but lazy. He does not like even to wind his watch. So, energy is being used for running clocks and watches, typewriters, shaving razors and many more things. It seems as if everything will be paralysed if there is no energy.
Wood, later on coal was the first source of energy, then oil came and passing through the stage of atomic energy, man is now looking forward to solar energy.
We are naturally anxious to think about our future because we know the bitter truth that a day will ultimately come when we have no more coal or oil. It will mean energy crisis, for which we ourselves are responsible. People who have made careful calculation feel that at present level of exploitation, the coal deposit will last till 2080 and it is also true that poor quality coal with the carbon content of 40 percent only, is not condusive for electricity generation.
It is also very difficult to harness the uneven distribution of coal. Hence man is on look out for other sources of energy. Our present hope seems to rest on nuclear power. Nuclear energy can be obtained both through fusion and fusion processes. An enormous amount of energy is released from small quantity of fuel in both these processes.
But we must be aware of the fact that nuclear power is full of risks, the use of nuclear energy gives rise to pollutants and hence pollutes our environment. In fact, the pollution caused by the use of nuclear energy from fission process is much more damaging than the pollution caused by burning forssil fuels. The dangerous nuclear radiations can damage and cause irreparable damage to cells and in some cases even lead to death.
The world is thus faced with serious energy crisis. With growing population the demand for energy is increasing day by day. Some governments are taking steps to supply energy for non-commercial purposes from various sources such as bio-gas.
Scientists all over the world are trying to meet the challenge. They are trying to harness solar, water, and air reserves. Hydro-electric power is cheaper, so are air mills. Solar energy too has bright hopes for man. However it is very expensive to establish the necessary infrastructure for tapping solar energy. Giant discs are made to concentrate the sunlight on the thermal generators which use this sunlight to produce energy.
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Thus all possible efforts will have to make to save us from total darkness.
TYPES OF ENERGY
Introduction: Adequate availability of inexpensive energy is the most important demand of today. Economic growth and industrialization both are dependent on the availability of energy. But today the problem is that world energy sources are fast depleting and this fast depleting energy resources have put the world in a grip of energy crisis so this is the time to take steps to conserve the non-renewable sources energy and also find the alternative sources of energy or another way is to tap or harness the solar energy.
Need to conserve energy resources: Many of the developed Western-European countries and Japan depend to a great extent on imports of energy resources to meet the bulk of their requirements. If such is the condition of industrially and technologically advanced countries one can imagine the condition of underdeveloped countries. These days the main sources of energy are coal, natural gas and mineral oil and some countries even have developed capacity to produce hydro-electric and nuclear energy to some extent. But their consumption in factories and automobiles is increasing in such manner that it would not take mankind more than a hundred years to use up all the known resources on the Earth. Hence the need to conserve the resources and use of available domestic resources is gaining momentum.
Conventional and Non-Conventional Energy: There are two types of resources, there are conventional and non-conventional. Bulk of the non-conventional supplies come from vegetable wastes, firewood, cow dung, besides mechanical energy derived from animal power and manpower. Among the primary sources of conventional energy coal and oil are the most dominant while electricity generated from coal and oil is the principal secondary source of conventional energy. Hydro power has also gained importance. Besides, solar energy is an important renewable non-polluting source of energy which can be harnessed most economically.
Solar Energy: Much research is going on all over the world on solar energy. According to Dr. Denis Hayes, a solar energy enthusiast, the sun could be used for providing directly half of America’s total energy needs. Since energy crisis is a common problem the nations of the world have decided to focus attention on it. They decided to meet every year at the World Energy Conference. This co-operative effect can certainly help to meet the challenge and save the world from the threat of energy crisis.
Other sources of energy: Another interesting development has been the growing potential of natural gas the world over, as gases represent more energy than oil. One of the recent developments is that of biogas or gobargas. Besides, research is being carried out to harness solar energy, produce power from tidal waves, ocean waves and wind.
Conclusion: So as the position of nation stands by us, we should take immediate steps to develop alternate non-conventional sources of energy to be ready to face the challenge tomorrow.
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