What are the environmental consequences of using fossil fuels? Suggest the steps to minimise the pollution caused by various sources of energy including non-conventional sources of energy.
Environmental consequences of using fossil fuels are:
(i) They are the largest emitters of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane.
(ii) Extraction of conventional fuels threatens the ecological balance in many areas.
(iii) These fuels cause environmental problems due to pollution.
Steps to minimize the pollution are:
(i) The dependency on fossil fuels should be reduced by switching to alternate sources of energy.
(ii) The judicious use of energy by avoiding wastage can reduce environmental problems.
(iii) Regular servicing of energy conversion devices should be done in order to maintain their efficiency.
(iv) We should focus on developing technology that could make the energy conversion devices much more efficient and cleaner.
(v) Research should be continued to produce long lasting devices so that the environmental damage caused by assembly of devices gets minimized.