Conventional: Energy that has been used from ancient times is known as conventional energy. Coal, natural gas, oil, and firewood are examples of conventional energy sources. (or usual) sources of energy (electricity) are coal, oil, wood, peat, uranium. They should be used with caution, as their regeneration could take millions of years. In this sense, it is a universally acknowledged truth that all non renewable forms of energy are conventional but all conventional forms of energy are not necessarily non renewable.
Non-conventional (or unusual) sources of energy include:
- Solar power
- Hydro-electric power (dams in rivers)
- Wind power
- Tidal power
- Ocean wave power
- Geothermal power (heat from deep under the ground)
- Ocean thermal power (the difference in heat between shallow and deep water)
- Biomass (burning of vegetation to stop it producing methane)
- Biofuel (producing ethanol (petroleum) from plants
Differences between conventional and non-conventional energy forms
| Conventional Source | Non-Conventional Source |
| It refers to traditional sources of energy like charcoal, firewood, coal, petroleum, etc | Non-Conventional sources of energy are recently developed sources of energy like from sun, wind, water, tides, geothermal, etc. |
| These sources of energy are non-renewable | These sources of energy are renewable |
| Generation of energy is expensive | Initial cost of generation of energy is high but cheaper in the long run. |
| They cause large scale pollution | They are eco friendly sources of energy. |
