Natural resources

Natural Resources
• Natural resources are the resources utilized by the
living organism for their survival and welfare directly
from the natural environment.
• These are basically resources gifted by nature to us
like sun light, air, water, plants, animals, soil and
minerals.
• Resource are form of energy/matter which is essential
for the functioning of organism, population,
community

Natural resources are divided into two types:
• Renewable Resources: Those resources that can be
continually reproduced over a relatively short period
of time. These resources are also called as
inexhaustible resources like sunlight, air , water etc.
• Nonrenewable Resources: These are natural
resources which are found almost in fixed amount
and so it is also called as exhaustible resources.
There is no completely exhaustible resource but its
rate of formation is so low that it becomes
unavailable after a period of time due to high rate of
consumption. Ex: fossil fuels, minerals.

• Nonrenewable resources are also
divided into two types :
• Recyclable nonrenewable Resources: These
resources include those things which can be
reprocessed after collection to new products like ores
of metals , nutrient rock( phosphorous , calcium and
sulfur)
• Non-recyclable non-renewable Resources: These
resources include those things which cannot be
reprocessed for recycling or reuse and are lost after
giving energy like fossil fuels.

• Classification of resources:
1) Biotic (living) resources
2) Abiotic (nonliving) resources

Natural resources-Energy Resources
• Energy can be defined as capacity to do work.
Energy is present in a number of forms like
mechanical , chemical , kinetic energy.
• Energy can be classified into several types based on
the following criteria:
• Primary and Secondary energy
• Commercial and Non commercial energy
• Renewable and Non-Renewable energy

• Primary Energy: Primary energy sources are
those that are either found or store in nature.
• Common primary sources are fossil fuels , oil ,
solar energy.
• Secondary Energy Resources: Primary energy
sources are mostly converted in industrial
utilities into secondary energy sources. Ex:
Petrol , coal is converted into electricity.

• Commercial Energy : The energy sources that are
available in the market for a definite price are known
as commercial energy.
• Ex: Natural gas , Coal , Petroleum products.
• Commercial energy forms the basis of industrial ,
agriculture , transport development in the modern
world.
• Non-commercial energy : Those energy sources that
are not available in the market for a price are
classified as non-commercial energy.
• Ex: Solar energy for heating water, cow dung, wind
energy for electricity generation.

• Renewable (Non-conventional energy) Energy :
• Nonconventional energy resources are those which
are generated by natural processes and to be
available for use every time.
• Ex: Wind energy, solar energy, tidal Energy ,
hydropower energy.
• Nonrenewable energy: Are those which can not be
generated by natural process
• Eg: Coal, petrol

Conventional
Advantage:
• Easy to store
• Available in high concentration
• Reliable source
• Low cost per unit of electricity produced
Disadvantage:
• Limited supply and will exhaust one day
• Highly polluting
• Available at few places
• High running cost
• Extraction of fuel causes various pollution (land
degradation)

Non Conventional
Advantages:
• Wide availability
• Lower running cost
• Low pollution
• Decentralized power production
• Available for future also
Disadvantages:
 Unreliable source
 Usually produce in small quantity
 Very difficult to store
 Cost of generation is more

SOLAR ENERGY
• Solar energy : The sun gives us non polluted ,
inexhaustible and pure form of energy. This energy is
generated in the sun due to thermonuclear fusion
reaction constantly taking place inside it. The solar
energy can be utilized by two ways :
• As solar heat
• As solar electricity

• As Solar Heat : In this system , heat of solar
radiation is trapped to raise the temperature
which can be used to boil water or other food
items. The application of solar heat is:
1. For heating water by solar water heaters.
2. For cooking food by solar cookers.
3. For heating building by solar heating.

(b) As solar electricity: The sun light can be converted
directly into electricity by the photovoltaic cell but
efficiency of this conversion is around 18% and is also
expensive.
• These solar cells which convert sun rays into
electricity are basically made of silicon, which also
known as silicon cells. The applications are as given
below:
1. For solar street light.
2. For solar pumps used for irrigation and light pumping.
3. For solar furnaces.

Applications:
• Solar water heater
• Solar cooker
• solar drying in agriculture
• Solar distillation
• Solar engines
• Solar furnace
• Solar heating of building
• Solar photovoltaic cell

ADVNATAGES OF SOLAR ENERGY
• Solar energy is pollution free.
• Solar energy is also noise free.
• Its installation and maintenance is easy.
• The solar photovoltaic cells have long life to
fulfill electricity demand.

Limitations:
• Uncertainty of availability due to clouds
• Large space is required
• Amount of sunlight that arrives is not constant
• Currently installation, production and
maintenance cost is high

WINDENERGY
• Wind is basically moving air with some speed.
• Wind energy can be used for running turbines
to generate electricity which can be used for
different purposes.
• Installation of wind power mills requires such
location where wind speed is enough.

ADVANTAGES OF WIND ENERGY
• Completely nonpolluting source of energy.
• No raw material is required.
• Generation is cheaper.
• Mostly used in costal and hilly areas.
• Generation period is low

LIMITATIONS
• Generation of energy is low.
• Located only in vast open areas.
• Motion of wind is variable and unsteady.
• Favourable in geographic locations which are
away from cities.
• Continuous whirling and whistling can be
irritating.

HYDROPOWER ENERGY
• Hydropower energy is produced by converting
the potential energy into kinetic energy by
water falling from a height to run the turbines
for electricity generation.
• The hydropower generation requires
construction of high dam on river with a large
reservoir.

ADVANTAGES OF HYDROPOWER ENERGY:
• Cost of power generation is low.
• Nonpolluting source of energy as no emissions are
present.
• Reservoir of dam can be used of multipurpose. It can
be used as reservoir for fishing, recreational activities
and can be supplied for drinking and irrigational
purposes.
• Longer life of projects.
• Can be started very quickly and stopped also.
• Save scarce fuel deposits

TIDAL ENERGY:
• The periodic rise and fall of sea water is called tide.
• The periodic rise and fall of sea level due to
gravitational attraction of the moon causes tides. A
dam is constructed at a narrow opening between the
land and sea. The movement of water during high
tide and low tide can be used to rotate the turbines
of generators to produce electricity. It uses the
kinetic energy generated by the tides and carries it to
power turbines which result in electricity generation.

ADVANTAGES OF TIDAL ENERGY:
• Natural process
• No raw material is required.
• Generation is cheaper.
Limitations OF TIDAL ENERGY
• Generation of electricity is less.
• Can be used in coastal areas
• Operational problems and accidents may occur during
cyclones and storms.
• Transmission becomes costly.

BIOMASS ENERGY
• The waste materials and dead parts of living things
are called biomass.
Eg :- wood, animal dung, vegetable waste, agricultural
waste, sewage etc. Biomass is decomposed by
anaerobic microorganisms to produce biogas.
• Biogas is a mixture of gases containing methane,
carbon dioxide, hydrogen and hydrogen sulphide.

CONVENTIONAL ENERGY (Non-Renewable Resources)
• Non-renewable energy is the conventional fossil fuels
such as coal, oil and gas, which are likely to deplete
with time. These are the resources which are
exhaustible and cannot be replaced once they are
used.
• FOSSIL FUELS: are fuels formed inside the earth from
the remains of plants and animals after millions of
years. The fossil fuels are coal, petroleum and natural
gas. Fossil fuels are non renewable sources of energy
so they should be conserved and used judiciously.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS RELATED TO THE
USE OF FOSSIL FUELS:
• Mining activities results in huge deforestation.
• Burning of fossil fuels release gases and harmful
particles which causes air pollution.
• Burning of fossil fuels release a large amount of
carbon dioxide gas which increases the temperature
of the atmosphere and causes global warming (green
house effect).
• Another major problem related to coal combustion is
the emission of particulates that have serious impact
on human health. It increases the problem like
asthma, airway obstruction.

NUCLEAR ENERGY
• Nuclear energy is the energy released during
nuclear reactions.
• During nuclear reactions some mass is
converted into energy and so a very large
amount of energy is produced during nuclear
reactions.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF NUCLEAR POWER
PLANT
• Extraction of uranium used as fuel in nuclear power
plants which is dangerous process as radioactivity
affects the body.
• The wasted heat disposal creates thermal pollution and
the effluents may contain radioactive waste which is
very harmful to living beings.
• The effects may be somatic (individual exposed is
affected ) or genetic (future generation) damage.
• Long term exposure to these radiations may cause
cancers , tumors and genetic problems.
• The biggest problem is about the safety of the nuclear
power plant , because in absence of proper and caution
leads to disasters.

PROBLEMS DUE TO OVEREXPLOITATION OF ENERGY
RESOURCES
• Rapid industrialization and urbanization , high
population growth , high living standards and rapid
advancement of technologies in each and every field
have increased the utilization rate of almost all types
of energy resources.
• Depletion of energy resources : Over use of
conventional resources may cause depletion of these
resources as the rate of formation of these resources
is very slow compared to its utilization rate.

• Socio-economic Effects : The scarcity of conventional
energy resources will increase the cost of fuels which
will effect the economy and the development of the
nation.
• Deforestation : Installation of thermal and
hydropower plants require large causing
deforestation problems. Excessive mining activities
and bombarding also affects the forest ecosystem
adversely.
• Environmental pollution : Over exploitation of
energy resources results in heavy emissions of green
house gases, smoke and particulate matter. These
emissions cause air pollution and problems like
ozone depletion , acid rain and global warming.

Different Forms of Drinking Water Available
Surface water:
 Water in a river, lake or fresh water wetland.
 Naturally replenished by precipitation and naturally
lost through discharge to the oceans, evaporation,
transpiration and sub-surface seepage.
 Factors affecting surface water include:
Storage capacity in lakes, wetlands and artificial
reservoirs,
Permeability of the soil beneath these storage bodies,
Runoff characteristics of the land in the watershed,
Timing of the precipitation, and
Local evaporation rates.

Ground Water
 Sub-surface water, or groundwater, is fresh water
located in the pore space of soil and rocks.
 Also water that is flowing within aquifers below
the water table.
 Sometimes it is useful to make a distinction between
sub-surface water that is closely associated with
surface water and deep sub-surface water in an
aquifer (sometimes called "fossil water").
 The natural input to sub-surface water is seepage
from surface water.
 The natural outputs from sub-surface water are
springs and seepage to the oceans.

• 2) Ponds: Natural small sized depression formed within the
surface of earth, when get filled with water is known as
pond.
• 3) Streams: In hilly regions, generally small amount of
water runoff towards the earth. Quantity of water available
is very less.
• 4) Rivers: they are born from the hills when number of
stream combine together
• 5) Storage Reservoir: they are formed by constructing
hydraulic structures like dams
• 6) Stored rain water: on some place rain water is stored
from terrace.

 C) Artesian well: These are the wells constructed in
a pervious layer which is bounded in between two
impervious layer resulting in water coming out with
high pressure

D) Radial Well: special type of well in which
surface water is collected from the river bed.
A well will collect water at centre and then it
can be pumped out.

Artesian well
Radial well or
French well

Uses of Fresh Water
• Categorized as Consumptive and Non-Consumptive
(sometimes called "renewable").
• A use of water is consumptive if that water is not
immediately available for another use. Losses to sub-
surface seepage and evaporation are considered
consumptive, as is water incorporated into a product (such
as farm produce).
• Water that can be treated and returned as surface water,
such as sewage, is generally considered non-consumptive if
that water can be put to additional use. Water use in
power generation and industry is generally comes in this
category.
• Withdrawal describes the removal of water from the
environment, while consumption describes the conversion
of fresh water into some other form, such as atmospheric
water vapor or contaminated waste water.

• Partially consumptive:
Eg: Domestic or public water need
fire water demand
industrial and institutional water need
thermal and nuclear power plant

VARIOUS TYPES OF WATER DEMANDS
• While designing the water supply scheme for a
town or city, it is necessary to determine the total
quantity of a water required for various purposes
by the city (Water demand) and then to find
suitable water sources from where the demand
can be met.
• But as there are so many factors involved in
demand of water, it is not possible to accurately
determine the actual demand.
• Certain empirical formulae and thumb rules are
employed in determining the water demand,
which is very near to the actual demand.

Following are the various types of water
demands of a city or town:
i. Domestic water demand
ii. Industrial demand
iii. Institution and commercial demand
iv. Demand for public use
v. Fire demand
vi. Loses and wastes

Recreational Uses
Recreational usage is usually non-consumptive.
Recreational usage may reduce the availability
of water for other users at specific times and
places.
Recreational water use is mostly tied to
reservoirs, If it is kept for recreation, then the
water retained could be categorized as
recreational usage.

DOMESTIC WATER DEMAND
The quantity of water required in the houses for
drinking, bathing, cooking, washing etc is called
domestic water demand
Depends upon the habits, social status, climatic
conditions and customs of the people.
As per IS: 1172-1963, under normal conditions, the
domestic consumption of water in India is about 135
litres/day/capita.
It is estimated that 8% of worldwide water use is for
household purposes.

But in developed countries this figure may be 350 litres/day/capita
because of use of air coolers, air conditioners, maintenance of
lawns, automatic household appliances.
The details of the domestic consumption are
a) Drinking ----------------- 5 litres
b) Cooking ------------------ 5 litres
c) Bathing ------------------- 55 litres
d) Clothes washing ------ ---20 litres
e) Utensils washing --------- 10 litres
f) House washing ----------- 10 litres
Total -----------------135 litres/day/capita

INDUSTRIAL DEMAND
The water required in the industries mainly depends on the type of
industries, which are existing in the city.
The water required by factories, paper mills, Cloth mills, Cotton
mills, Breweries, Sugar refineries etc. comes under industrial
use.
The quantity of water demand for industrial purpose is around 20
to 25% of the total demand of the city.
INSTITUTION AND COMMERCIAL DEMAND
Universities, Institution, commercial buildings and commercial
centres including office buildings, warehouses, stores, hotels,
shopping centres, health centres, schools, temple, cinema
houses, railway and bus stations etc comes under this category.

DEMAND FOR PUBLIC USE
Quantity of water required for public utility purposes such as
for washing and sprinkling on roads, cleaning of sewers,
watering of public parks, gardens, public fountains etc
comes under public demand.
To meet the water demand for public use, provision of 5% of
the total consumption is made in designing of water works
of a city.
The requirements of water for public utility shall be taken as
given in Table.
Sr.No. Purpose Water Requirements
1 Public parks 1.4 litres/m2/day
2 Street washing 1.0-1.5 litres/m2/day
3 Sewer cleaning 4.5 litres/head/day

FIRE DEMAND
• Fire may take place due to faulty electric wires by short
circuiting, fire catching materials, explosions, bad intension of
criminal people or any other unforeseen mishappening
• So Water is required for throwing it over the fire to extinguish
• Provision are made to supply sufficient quantity of water or keep
as reserve in the water mains for this purpose.
• The quantity of water required for fire fighting is generally
calculated by using different empirical formulae.
For Indian conditions kuiching’s formula gives satisfactory results.
Q=3182 √p
Where ‘Q’ is quantity of water required in litres/min
‘P’ is population of town or city in thousands

LOSSES AND WASTES
All the water, which goes in the distribution pipes but
does not reach the consumers.
The following are the reasons:
1. Losses due to defective pipe joints, cracked and
broken pipes, faulty valves and fittings.
2. Losses due to, consumers keep open their taps of
public taps even when they are not using the water and
allow the continuous wastage of water.
3. Losses due to unauthorised and illegal connections
While estimating the total quantity of water of a town;
allowance of 15% of total quantity of water is made to
compensate for losses and wastage of water

Agricultural Use
 It is estimated that 69% of worldwide water use is for
irrigation, with 15-35% of irrigation withdrawals being
unsustainable.
 It takes around 3,000 litres of water, converted from
liquid to vapour, to produce enough food to satisfy one
person's daily dietary need. This is a considerable
amount, when compared to that required for drinking,
which is between two and five litres.

Strategies to Preserve Water Resources
•Prevent Groundwater Contamination
•Greatly reduce nonpoint runoff
•Reuse treated wastewater for Irrigation
•Work with nature to treat Sewage
•Practice 3 R's of resource use (reduce, recycle, reuse)
•Reduce Resource Waste
•Reduce Air Pollution
•Preventing Soil Erosion
•Reduce Birth Rates
•Successful Planning, Designing, Operation and
Management of Water Resources Projects

• Soil Erosion
• Loss of fertile land
• Economic losses
• Loss of medicinal plants
• Change in living habitat

FOOD RESOURCES
• Human beings need air , water and food to survive but out
of these , food is an important material for the growth and
functioning of body.
• Main food sources are:
• Agricultural Crops : It includes mainly crops like wheat ,
rice , sugarcane , soyabean, maize.
• Amongst these rice, wheat and maize are major food grains.
• Vegetables and fruits : It includes basically all vegetables
and fruits.
• Domesticated animals (sheep , Goat , Hen). These animals
are the source of milk and meat.
• Aquaculture: This includes different types of fishes and sea
food.

• The FAO estimated that about 840 million people
remain chronically hungry, nearly 820 million of
them in the developing countries. There are generally
two kinds of problems across the world.
• 1. Undernourishment
• 2. Malnutrition
• Every year 40 million people die of
undernourishment and malnutrition

• MALNUTRITION : Malnutrition arises due to lack of
specific amount of food components like proteins ,
carbohydrates , vitamins and other essential
nutrients required for proper health and growth.
• UNDERNUTRITION:The problem of
undernourishment occurs when the body is not
given enough food or calories as required to support
its need.

Major problems due to malnutrition
• Marasmus: Lack of proteins and calories.
• Kwashiorkar: Lack of proteins in the diet which
leads to stunted growth in infants and causes
failure of neural development and learning
disabilities.
• Anemia: Caused by an inability to absorb iron.
• Goiter and Hyperthyroidism: an iodine
deficiency in the diet in early childhood can
cause abnormalities such as mental retardation
and deaf-mutism.

• Pellagra: Deficiency of tryptophan and lysine
vitamins.
• Chronic hunger: Which occurs when people
have enough food to stay alive but not enough
to lead satisfactory and productive lives.

Steps to improve food production
1. Available land acreage should be properly and
judiciously utilized.
2. Soil fertility should be increased through wise
use of fertilizers and organic manures.
3. Mixed cropping should be practiced whenever
possible.
4. Crop rotation should be done.
5. Soil erosion and loss of nutrients should be
prevented by maintaining vegetation cover
throughout the year.

6. High yield and disease resistant plant varieties
should be introduced.
7. Integrated and balanced use of available water
sources(surface and ground water) should be
made.
8. Weeds and pest should be efficiently controlled,
integrated pest control practices should be
preferred over total reliance on chemical
pesticides.
9. Combining use of traditional
methods/equipments with modern
methods/equipments of agriculture.

Environmental impacts of Agriculture
Impacts of traditional agriculture on environment:
o Deforestation
o Soil erosion
o Depletion of nutrients
Impacts of modern agriculture on environment:
1. Fertilizer related problems;
o Micronutrient imbalance
o Nitrate pollution
o Eutrophication
2. Problems related to pesticides;
o Biological magnification
o Death of non target organisms
o Creating resistance in pests & producing new pests

Environmental impacts of Agriculture
Water logging
o Over irrigation of croplands by the farmers for
good growth of crops usually leads to water
logging.
Salinity problems
o A major cause of salinization is excessive
irrigation. Under dry climate water evaporates
leaving behind salts in the upper layer of the
soil

Land resources
Various uses of land are:
o Food production
o Water and raw material resources
o Industrial purpose
o Residential purpose
o Commercial purpose
o Waste disposal
o Energy purpose

Natural resources

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