Sources of energy

Energy can be sourced from many things found in nature but they can all be divided into two categories.

1. Renewable energy sources
2. Non-Renewable energy sources

Renewable energy sources

Renewable energy sources are those which will be continuously replenished by nature. Though it can be infinitely replenished, at any given point in time the amount of such energy available to us is limited.

Examples:

• Biomass
• Hydropower
• Geothermal
• Wind
• Solar

Non-Renewable energy sources

Non-renewable energy sources are not replenished by nature and there are limited quantities of it. Once we have used all of it, it will no longer be available to us as an energy source. Example - Fossil Fuel

Primary vs Secondary sources

Primary Sources

Primary energy sources are the energy sources that are available to us in nature

Secondary Sources

Secondary sources are produced by transformation of the primary source. For example we burn coal in a power plant to produce electrical energy. This transformation is done for various reasons. In the case of the example above, we convert the potential energy in coal to electrical energy because it can be easily transported to our houses. It is also easy to use electrical energy to convert to other forms of energy we use such as lighting a bulb, toast bread in a toaster etc.,