Renewable Energy means 1. Electricity produced from solar 2. Electricity produced from thermal plants 3. Electricity produced from coal 4. Electricity produced from wind Choose the correct answer from the options given below :
1 and 4 only
Only solar and wind are renewable, so the answer is 1 and 4 — option 1.
The definition. A renewable source is one replenished by natural processes on a human time scale, so that using it does not exhaust it. A non-renewable source exists in a fixed stock built up over geological time and is depleted by use.
| Item | Renewable ? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Solar | Yes | The Sun will shine for billions of years; the supply is not diminished by use |
| 2. Thermal plants | No | “Thermal” in Indian usage means a station burning coal, lignite, gas or oil — all fossil fuels |
| 3. Coal | No | A fossil fuel formed over hundreds of millions of years |
| 4. Wind | Yes | Driven by solar heating of the atmosphere, and continuously renewed |
Since items 2 and 3 are in fact the same thing — a thermal plant in India is usually a coal plant — any option containing either must be wrong, and that disposes of options 2, 3 and 4 together.
The full list of renewables : solar, wind, hydro, biomass, geothermal, tidal and wave energy. Nuclear is not renewable — uranium is a finite mineral — though it is low-carbon, and the two properties are often confused.
India’s position. India has committed itself to 500 GW of non-fossil capacity by 2030 and to net zero by 2070, targets announced at the Glasgow COP26 as the Panchamrit pledges. Installed renewable capacity has passed 200 GW, with solar the largest component; the National Solar Mission, the International Solar Alliance co-founded with France, and the world’s largest solar parks at Bhadla in Rajasthan and Pavagada in Karnataka belong to the same effort.
A caution on hydro. Large hydropower is renewable but is often counted separately from “renewable energy sources” in Indian statistics, which reserve that phrase for small hydro, solar, wind, biomass and waste-to-energy. It is worth checking which convention a question is using.
Hence, the answer is 1 and 4 only.