1. Coal

• One of the important minerals which is mainly used in the generation of thermal power and smelting of iron ore. Coal occurs in rock sequences mainly of two geological ages, namely Gondwana and tertiary deposits. 
• About 80 per cent of the coal deposits in India is of bituminous type and is of noncoking grade.
• The most important Gondwana coal fields of India are located in Damodar Valley. They lie in Jharkhand-Bengal coal belt and the important coal fields in this region are Raniganj, Jharia, Bokaro, Giridih, Karanpura.
• Jharia is the largest coal field followed by Raniganj.
• Tertiary coals occur in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Nagaland.
• Besides, the brown coal or lignite occur in the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir.

2. Petroleum

• Crude petroleum consists of hydrocarbons of liquid and gaseous states varying in chemical composition, colour and specific gravity.
• It is an essential source of energy for all internal combustion engines in automobiles, railways and aircraft. Its numerous by-products are processed in petrochemical industries such as fertiliser, synthetic rubber, synthetic fibr e, medicines, vaseline, lubricants, wax, soap and cosmetics.
• Crude petroleum occurs in sedimentary rocks of the tertiary period.
• Oil exploration and production was systematically taken up after the Oil and Natural Gas Commission was set up in 1956.
• In recent years, new oil deposits have been found at the extreme western and eastern parts of the country. In Assam, Digboi, Naharkatiya and Moran are important oil producing areas. The major oil fields of Gujarat are Ankaleshwar, Kalol, Mehsana, Nawagam, Kosamba
• Mumbai High which lies 160 km off Mumbai was discovered in 1973 and production commenced in 1976. Oil and natural gas have been found in exploratory wells in Krishna-Godavari and Kaveri basin on the east coast.
• Oil extracted from the wells needs to be refined. There are two types of refineries in India:

(a) field based and

(b) market based.

• Digboi is an example of field based and Barauni is an example of market based refinery.
• There are 18 refineries in India

3. Natural Gas

• The Gas Authority of India Limited was set up in 1984 as a public sector undertaking to transport and market natural gas.
• It is obtained along with oil in all the oil fields but exclusive reserves have been located along the eastern coast as well as (Tamil Nadu, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh), Tripura, Rajasthan and off-shore wells in Gujarat and Maharashtra

Non-Conventional Energy Sources 

• Sustainable energy resources are only the renewable energy sources like solar, wind, hydro- geothermal and biomass. These energy sources are more equitably distributed and environmental friendly.
• The non-conventional energy sources will provide more sustained, eco-friendly cheaper energy after the initial cost is taken care of.

1. Nuclear Energy Resources

• Important minerals used for the generation of nuclear energy are uranium and thorium. 
• Uranium deposits occur in the Dharwar rocks. 
• Geographically, uranium ores are known to occur in several locations along the Singbhum Copper belt. It is also found in Udaipur, Alwar and Jhunjhunu districts of Rajasthan, Durg district of Chhattisgarh, Bhandara district of Maharashtra and Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh.
• Thorium is mainly obtained from monazite and ilmenite in the beach sands along the coast of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
• World’s richest monazite deposits occur in Palakkad and Kollam districts of Kerala, near Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Mahanadi river delta in Orissa.
• Atomic Energy Commission was established in 1948, progress could be made only after the establishment of the Atomic Energy Institute at Trombay in 1954 which was renamed as the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in 1967.
• The important nuclear power projects are Tarapur (Maharashtra) Rawatbhata near Kota (Rajasthan), Kalpakkam (Tamil Nadu), Narora (Uttar Pradesh), Kaiga (Karnataka) and Kakarapara (Gujarat)

2. Solar Energy

• Sun rays tapped in photovoltaic cells can be converted into energy, known as solar energy. 
• The two effective processes considered to be very effective to tap solar energy are photovoltaics and solar thermal technology.
• Solar thermal technology has some relative advantages over all other nonrenewable energy sources. It is cost competitive, environment friendly and easy to construct.
• Solar energy is 7 per cent more effective than coal or oil based plants and 10 per cent more effective than nuclear plants. It is generally used more in appliances like heaters, crop dryers, cookers, etc.
• The western part of India has greater potential for the development of solar energy in Gujarat and Rajasthan.(Y)

3. Wind Energy

• Wind energy is absolutely pollution free, inexhaustible source of energy.
• The mechanism of energy conversion from blowing wind is simple. The kinetic energy of wind, through turbines is converted into electrical energy.
• The permanent wind systems such the trade winds, westerlies and seasonal wind like monsoon have been used as source of energy. Besides these, local winds, land and sea breezes can also be used to produce electricity. 
• India, already has started generating wind energy. It has an ambitious programme to install 250 wind-driven turbines with a total capacity of 45 megawatts, spread over 12 suitable locations, specially in coastal areas.
• In Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka, favourable conditions for wind energy exist.
• Wind power plant at Lamba in Gujarat in Kachchh is the largest in Asia. Another, wind power plant is located at Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu.

4. Tidal and Wave Energy

• Ocean currents are the store-house of infinite energy.
• Large tidal waves are known to occur along the west coast of India. Hence, India has great potential for the development of tidal energy along the coasts but so far these have not yet been utilised.

5. Geothermal Energy 

• When the magma from the interior of earth, comes out on the surface, tremendous heat is released. This heat energy can successfully be tapped and converted to electrical energy. Apart from this, the hot water that gushes out through the gyser wells is also used in the generation of thermal energy. It is popularly known as Geothermal energy. 
• This energy is now considered to be one of the key energy sources which can be developed as an alternate source. 
• The hot springs and geysers are being used since medieval period. In India, a geothermal energy plant has been commissioned at Manikaran in Himachal Pradesh.

6. Bio-energy

• Bio-energy refers to energy derived from biological products which includes agricultural residues, municipal, industrial and other wastes.
• Bio- energy is a potential source of energy conversion. It can be converted into electrical energy, heat energy or gas for cooking.
• It will also process the waste and garbage and produce energy. This will improve economic life of rural areas in developing countries, reduce environmental pollution, enhance self-reliance and reduce pressure on fuel wood.
• One such project converting municipal waste into energy is Okhla in Delhi.

Conservation of Mineral Resources:

• The alternative energy sources like solar power, wind, wave, geothermal energy are inexhaustible resource. These should be developed to replace the exhaustible resources. 
• In case of metallic minerals, use of scrap metals will enable recycling of metals. 
• Use of scrap is specially significant in metals like copper, lead and zinc in which India‟s reserves are meagre. Use of substitutes for scarce metals may also reduce their consumption.
• Export of strategic and scarce minerals must be reduced, so that the existing reserve may be used for a longer period.