5379.Natural Resources III

8/2/2019 5379.Natural Resources III

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Mineral Resources

A Mineral is a pure inorganic substance that occurs naturally in the

earths crust. Major portion of the earths crust is made up ofminerals, single elements or compounds.

A mineral deposit is a concentration of naturally occurring solid, liquidor gaseous material, in or on the earths crust in such form and

amount that its extraction and its conversion into useful materials or

items are profitable now or may be so in the future.

Minerals provide the material used to make most of the things ofindustrial based society.

Minerals are valuable natural resources being finite and non-

renewable. Demand for minerals increase as the populationincreases.

Management of mineral resources has, therefore, to be closelyintegrated with the overall strategy of development & exploitation ofminerals is to be guided by long term national goals and

perspectives.


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Types of Mineral Resources

Three categories : Fuel, Metallic and Non-Metallic.

Fuel Minerals: Coal, Oil and natural gas are the basic fossil fuel. There are good

reserves of coal but more essential fuel oils and natural gas arebecoming scarce.

Coal: In our country it is expected to last for 200 years. Its quantity is

better than fossil fuels but still one needs to use it optimally. Coal canbe lignite (38% C), Bituminous (65% C) and Anthracite (96% C).

Crude Oil:Formed over a period of million of years throughconversion of remains of micro organisms living in sea, intohydrocarbons by heat, pressure and catalytic action. Fractionaldistillation helps us to get various petroleum products from crude oil.

Natural Gas: with the present rate of consumption the gas reservesshall last only a quarter century from now.

Metallic & Non-Metallic Minerals:Except iron ore and bauxite, themineral wealth of our country is just 1% of world reserves and goingto last us only 30 years.


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Use & Exploitation

Early Paleolithic man : Flint for arrowheads, clay for pottery.

Iron age : Use of iron as implements and weapons.

Bronze age : Its use for various artifacts and utensils.

Use of various minerals as alloys to meet specific needswith specific qualities.

Its use and exploitation is increasing with the increasingdemand of the growing population.

A study(Rome Report) reveals geometrical increase inpopulation till 2050 to 5 billion people; Industrial outputstarts reducing after 2030; Pollution increases upto 2040and then reduces and mineral resources continuouslyreduce by 2050 to a bare minimum.


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Mineral Exploration and Extraction

Exploration: Field Survey observation, analysis of the rock

composition and geophysics; Remote Sensing Study of theobject by placing instruments at a distance from that object.

Methods of Extraction:

Strip or Open Cast mining. When mineral is available near the

surface of the earth. Economically cheap, environmentallydestructive.

Quarrying. Specially termed for building and road stoneextraction.

Adit Mining. A horizontal shaft can be tunneled out when amineral is situated in a horizontal seam.

Shaft Mining. A vertical shaft sunk deep inside the earth, fromwhich a series of galleries are made at different depths forextraction of minerals.


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Environmental Effects of Extracting &Using Mineral resources

Mining & processing of mineral resources have a considerableimpact on land, water, air, & biological resources. Socialimpacts result from the increased demand for housing & otherservices in mining areas. Some of the effects are:

Pollution. Atmosphere, water polluted affecting biosphere.

Destruction of land. Mine area & surrounding areas.

Subsidence. May happen anytime causing damage.

Noise. Blasting & transport cause noise disturbance in the area

Energy. Immense energy is consumed in the process.

Impact on Biological Environment. Plant & animal life.

Long term supply of mineral Resources. Low wastesustainable approach with emphasis on recycling, reusing andwaste reduction & less emphasis on dumping, burying &

burning.


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Case Study : No Mining in Aravali Hills

Aravali Hills span three states of Delhi, Haryana &Rajasthan and stand as a natural barrier to Thar desert.

Supreme Court ordered ban on mining in 2002.

A committee set up to ensure Overall Ecological

Restoration.

Some existing mines can continue on the basis ofSustainable development principle after clearance from

environment authorities.

Afforestation activities need to be encouraged and no harmshould come to them.


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Energy resources

Energy is a primary input for almost all economic activitiesand is, therefore, vital for improvement in quality of life.

The demand for energy is increasing but the energyresources are becoming scarce and costlier.

Energy conservation is considered as a quick andeconomical way to solve the problem of power shortage asalso a means of conserving the countrys finite sources of

energy.

The studies conducted by Energy management Centre, NewDelhi have indicated that there is about 25% potential ofenergy conservation in the industrial sector.


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Growing Energy Needs

Global Level: Energy is derived from non renewable

(conventional) & renewable (non conventional) resources. Theformer are in a process of depletion.

Worlds demand for oil rose from 436 in 1960 to 3200 milliontonnes in 2000; coal 1043 to 2146; natural gas 187 to

2301mcm. Of the developing countries, China has the highest per capitaconsumption of energy.

Among non-conventional resources, hydropower is the largest.At present only 15% potential in the developing world is being

utilised. Windpower has also great potential. In 1980 10MW;2000 14000MW & by 202010% of worlds electricity. Solarenergy Photovoltaic production climbed from 0.1MW to 200MWin 2000.


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Growing Energy Needs

Indian Scenario:Coal, oil, gas and water constitute the

main sources of energy in our country. Commercialconsumption of energy is from coal(56%), petroleum(32%),the other sources being nuclear, natural gas and water.

Industrial sector consumes 50% of the total commercial

energy produced in the country followed by the transportsector. With increase in mechanisation & modernisation of itsactivities, the agricultural sectors consumption has grownconsiderably.

In the domestic sector, the consumption of naturalfuel(mostly wood) energy is very high. From 1970 to 1995,the annual consumption of electricity per household went upfrom 7 to 53kwh; kerosene from 6.6 ltrs to 9.9 ltrs; cookinggas from 0.33 kg to 3.8 kg.


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Sources of Energy

Energy Sources

Non-

Commercial

Commercial

Natural Fuels: Fuel wood &

Agricultural residues.

Animal Energy

Conventional: Coal, Petroleum, natural

gas, Electricity. (non-renewable)

Non-Conventional: Solar, wind, water

energy, bio-mass, geothermal,

ocean(tidal, wave), hydropower,

hydrogen, nuclear. (Renewable)


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Non Conventional Sources of Energy

In the decades ahead, fossil fuel based energy systems will

be replaced and ultimately a sustainable energy systembased on renewable, clean and non pollutant energyresources will operate in which probably, there will be nonuclear power and power will be derived from:

Solar energy Wind energy

Bio energy

Geothermal energy

Ocean energy Hydro power

Hydrogen energy.


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Land Resources

Land is a major constituent of the Lithosphere and is thesource of many materials essential to man and otherorganisms. It forms about 1/5thof the earths surface.

Increasing human population has put great pressure on thisnatural resource which is not available in unlimited quantity.Vast tracts of land have been cleared of natural vegetationfor cultivation of crops & plantations thus causing ecologicalimbalance.

Most human and natural activities need space for their

location and development. This space is provided by landwhich is put to various uses like food & energy production,waste disposal, industrial, commercial & residentialpurposes.


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Impact of land-use on EnvironmentalQuality

Land use involves economic activities which in turn lead toseveral environmental problems like:

Problem of dealing with the pollutants discharged.

Problem of disposal of wastes.

Consumption of natural resources for the economicactivities.

Malfunctioning of the ecosystem by disturbing the

ecological cycles and wild life habitats.


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Relationship of Land-use & naturaldisasters

Natural disasters like volcanic eruptions, earthquakes &landslides have a geological land based origin.

Damages due to natural disasters, whether they are ofgeological origin or of climatic or meteorological origini.e. floods, droughts, storms, are directly linked topopulation and properties located in exposed areas.

Natural disasters result in property damages, deaths andcasualties. Careful land-use planning, preventive policies

for building technologies, mitigation policies and betterforecasts of disasters can help to reduce the damagesassociated with natural disasters.


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Land Degradation

The surface layer of land is called soil. It covers about 4/5th

of the land areas. Fertility or the productive capacity of thesoil depends on the minerals it contains. As the mineralsabound in the top layer of the soil, so the top layer is best forvegetation.

Land degradation refers to this deterioration or loss of fertilityor productive capacity of the soil. These factors are:

Soil Erosion.

Soil Pollution.

Salination & Water Logging. Shifting cultivation.

Desertification.

Urbanisation.


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Soil Erosion

Loss or removal of the superficial layer of the soil by theaction of water, wind, or by the activities of man istermed as soil-erosion.

The factors influencing the extent to which soil erosion

will occur are: Distribution, Intensity & amount of rainfall.

Slope of the ground.

Nature of the soil.

Vegetation cover.

Soil management.


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Soil Pollution

Soil pollution is the reduction in the productivity of soil due to thepresence of soil pollutants. These have an adverse effect on thephysical, chemical and biological properties of the soil.

Intensification of agricultural production by practices ofirrigation(causes salination), excessive fertilisers, pesticides,insecticides, etc. have created the problems of soil pollution.

Pesticides, fertilisers, organic manure, chemicals, radioactive wastes,discarded food, clothes, leather goods, plastics, paper, bottles, tin-cans & carcasses all contribute towards soil pollution.

Organic insecticides like DDT, aldrin, benzene hexachloride, etc. areused against soil borne pests. They accumulate in the soil as theydegrade very slowly by soil and water bacteria. Consequently theeffect travels to plants-animals-man through food chains.

Human & animal excreta(pathgens), nitrification contribute to soil andwater pollution by reaching toxic levels.


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Equitable use of resources forsustainable lifestyle

Sustainable Developmentbasically means that the process ofdevelopment needs to be sustained or the development of aregion should be planned in such a manner that it should go onfor a long long time.

Environment Commission defined sustainable developmentas the development that meets the needs of the present withoutcompromising the ability of the future generations to meet theirown needs.

Economists define it as being an economic process in whichquantity & quality of our stock of natural resources(like forests)and integrity of biogeochemical cycles(like climate) aresustainable and passed on to the future generation unimpaired.


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Carrying Capacity

Carrying Capacityof a region/ system could be described

broadly as number of individuals of a species that it cansustain. In case of human beings, it is rather a complexsituation, wherein the region has not only to bear the load of hisbasic needs but also all other associated activities including

industrial/ developmental projects. The carrying capacity can be divided into two parts i.e.

Supportive Capacity and Assimilative Capacity.

Supportive Capacityof a region provides an assessment of

the stock of available resources with their regenerative capacityon natural/ sustainable basis.

Assimilative Capacity is an assessment of the maximumamount of pollution load that can be discharged withoutviolating the best designated use of these basic components ofenvironment.


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Green Accounting

It is a widely prevalent concept both in developed anddeveloping countries.

Green Accounting underlines basically the same principlesas enumerated in concepts of sustainable development andcarrying capacity i.e. use of natural resources base inplanned and judicious manner without impacting(or minimumimpacting) the quality of environment.

It conveys by providing us an economic interpretation of bothresource base and environmental quality as against the

conventional accounting in terms of GDP.

It precisely gives us a uniform level by converting bothnatural resource base and environmental quality in monetaryterms, therefore, making the task easier for planners and

policy makers to formulate further programmes.

5379.Natural Resources III

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