A Review on Non-Conventional Energy Sources Pradeep Kumar M.E Graduate, Department of Electrical Engineering National Institute of Technical Teacher’s and Research Chandigarh, India Pradeep02334@gmail.com Abstract – Energy is the key input to drive and improve the life cycle. Basically, it is the gift of the nature to the mankind in various forms. The consumption of the energy is directly proportional to the progress of the mankind. With ever growing population, improvement in the living standard of the humanity, industrialization of the developing countries, the global demand for energy is expected to increase rather significantly in the near future. The primary source of energy is fossil fuel, however the finiteness of fossil fuel reserves and large scale environmental degradation caused by their widespread use, particularly global warming, urban air pollution and acid rain, strongly suggests that harnessing of non-conventional, renewable and environment friendly energy resources is vital for steering the global energy supplies towards a sustainable path. This paper describes in brief the non- conventional energy sources and their usage in India. Keywords – Energy, Environment, MW, Non- conventional, Resources, etc. I. INTRODUCTION In India ranks sixth in the world in total energy consumption, whereas more than 70% of its primary energy needs are being met through imports, mainly in the form of crude oil and natural gas. Coming to the power generation in the country, India has increased installed power capacity from 1362 MW to over 112,058 MW since independence and electrified more than 500,000 villages. This achievement is impressive but not sufficient. It is a matter of concern that 44% of households do not have access to the electricity (Census 2001) and as many as 80,000 villages are yet to be electrified. The electricity supply is not even sufficient for those who have been connected. The country still encounters peak and energy shortage of 7.7% and 12.3% respectively (Up to Aug ’05). The annual per capita consumption of 580Kwh is amongst the lowest in the world. The Ministry of Power has now drawn a road map to ensure ‘power on demand’ by 2012. The anticipated demand as per 16 th Electric Power Survey requires an addition of 1, 00,000 MW. In other words, the achievements of more than five decades need to be replicated in the next decade. This requires resources of Rs.8, 00,000 crores. The task is daunting but not unachievable. India has a vast hydro potential of 150,000 MW out of which only 17% has been tapped so far. Then there are coal reserves to last for more than 200 years along with other exploitable energy reserves such as oil and gas etc. Even the potential of renewables is 82,000 MW. It is significant that the ministry envisions adding 10,000MW up to 2012 through non- conventional energy sources alone. Till now, the total installed capacity based on these sources is only about 6422 MW consisting of 3595 MW wind, 1705 MW small hydro, 750 MW biomass, 264 KW solar, 66 MW gasifiers and 42 MW from urban/industrial waste energy. This constitutes only 7.8% of total installed capacity in the country. The MOP (Ministry of Power) has drafted New and Renewable Energy Policy Statement 2005 issuing guidelines to indigenously develop new and renewable energy technologies, products & services, at par with international standards, specifications, and performance parameters for deployment in a manner so as to arrive at an optimal fuel- mix that most effectively meets the overall concerns of the country. To ensure integrated development, a Coordination Committee for Power has been constituted for close coordination amongst the concerned Ministries to deliberate on issues pertaining to generation programmes, evacuation schemes, operational issues and grid related problems. India has pioneered in the world in many administrative actions of renewable energy promotion, such as;  Electricity regulatory commission within liberalized market, 1991  Mandatory environmental audits for power projects, 1992  Energy conservation bill, 2000  Renewable energy promotion bill, 2005. Today, India is among the leaders in the world in utilization of several RE technologies. II. PREDICTIONS REGARDING FOSSIL FUEL RESERVES Fossil fuels supply most of the energy consumed today. They are relatively concentrated and pure energy sources and technically easy to exploit, and provide cheap energy. Presently Oil 40%, natural gas 22.5%, coal 23.3%, hydroelectric 7.0%, nuclear 6.5%, biomass and others 0.7% provide almost all of the world's energy requirements. However, the reserves of fossil fuels are limited as under:  Conservative predictions are that conventional oil production will peak in 2007.  The pessimists predict a peak for conventional gas production between 2010 and 2020.  There are today 200 years of economically