Test: Conventional Sources of Energy - UPSC MCQ

The power station where electricity is produced by using the energy of flowing water to drive generators is called hydro power plant or hydroelectric power station.

Biogas typically refers to a mixture of different gases produced by the breakdown of organic matter in the absence of oxygen. Biogas can be produced from raw materials such as agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste or food waste. Biogas is a renewable energy source.

Because it is maximum in open place ( in open place wind can move fast and freely, so it rotate the blades of windmill at high speed resulting in more energy production.)

In a hydroelectric power plant potential energy possessed by stored water is converted into electricity.

So option D is correct answer. 

Coal is a non-renewable energy source because it takes millions of years to form.

Unreliable source is the major disadvantage of the renewable source. For Example: solar energy can be used in the day time when the sun is shining bright. It cannot be used on rainy days or at night time.  

Natural gas is a non-renewable fossil fuel formed from the remains of tiny sea plants and animals that died 300-400 million years ago.

Because charcoal is prepared from destructive distillation of wood, so for this purpose, more and more trees would have to be cut down which causes deforestation. It affects the ecological balance of earth.

Gases released in biogas are methane, carbon dioxide, hydrogen and, hydrogen sulfide .but the production of methane is highest (75%). It is the main constituent of biogas.

The minimum wind velocity for a windmill to function is 15 km per hour.
As soon as the speed of the wind becomes less than 15 kilometre per hour, the generator stops working.

The Muppandal Wind Farm is India's largest operational onshore wind farm. This project located in Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu. The project was developed by Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency. Its installed capacity is 1,500 MW, which makes it one of world's largest operational onshore wind farms.

For the correction, option B has to be: The main ingredient of biogas is methane. It burns without smoke and leaves no residue.

Major pollutants produced during combustion of fossil fuels are carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, resulting in potentially devastating long-term contamination of land, air and water resources.

In a hydroelectric power plant more electrical power can be generated if water falls from a greater height because greater height means larger potential energy, and this larger amount of potential energy is converted into larger kinetic energy.

Power generated in a windmill depends on the velocity with which wind is moving.

 Large amount of fossil fuels are burnt every day in power stations to heat up water to produce steam which further runs the turbine to generate electricity.

Bio-gas is an excellent fuel as it contains up to 75% methane. It burns without smoke, leaves no residue like ash in wood, charcoal and coal burning. Its heating capacity is high. Bio-gas is also used for lighting.

Hydroelectricity power stations use the kinetic energy in moving water. But the water comes from behind a dam built across a river valley. The water high up behind the dam contains potential energy.

There are three major forms of fossil fuels they are coal, oil and natural gas. They formed from organic remains of plants and animals that were converted into coal, oil and natural gas by exposure to heat and the pressure of the earth’s crust over millions of years.

Explanation: Geothermal energy is the heat from the earth. It’s clean and sustainable. Resources of geothermal energy range from the ground to water and hot rock. The term geothermal originates from the Greek words.