Question

On what basis would you classify energy sources as :
(a) renewable and non-renewable ?
(b) exhaustible and inexhaustible ?
Are the options gives in (a) and (b) the same ?

Answer 1

(a) Renewable sources of energy are those which (i) can be replaced as we use them and (ii) can be used to produce enegry again and again.
Non-renewable sources of energy we those which cannot be replaced one these are used.
(b) Exhaustible sources of enegry are those whose supply is limited, e.g., coal petroleum and natual gas.
Inexhaustible sources of energy are those whose energy supply is unlimited, e.g., solar energy, water energy, wind energy, nuclear energy etc.
Renewable sources of energy are inexhaustible whereas non-renewable sources of energy are exhaustibile with some exceptions. For example, biomass is a renewable source of energy only if we plant trees in a planned manner. On the other hand, geothermal energy and nuclear energy though inexhaustible are non-renewable.