Q1.
What are the non-renewable resources that you use daily, directly or indirectly? What are the possible renewable substitutes? What are some of the steps we can take to transition to renewables?
Answer
Most of them reach you indirectly — through electricity, transport and manufactured goods — which is why they are easy to overlook.
| Non-renewable | How you use it every day | Possible renewable substitute |
|---|---|---|
| Coal | Indirectly — most of the electricity for lights, fans, pumps and phone charging; also steel-making | Solar, wind and hydro electricity; hydrogen or electric routes in steel |
| Petroleum (petrol, diesel) | Directly and indirectly — the bus or auto to school, goods brought to the market, diesel pumps and generators | Electric vehicles charged from renewables; cycling and walking; buses and trains instead of many small vehicles; biofuels |
| LPG / natural gas | Cooking at home | Biogas from cattle dung and kitchen waste; solar cookers; efficient improved chulhas; induction run on renewable electricity |
| Iron and steel | Cycle, utensils, taps, school gate, reinforcement in the walls | No true substitute — so recycle scrap, and make things that last and can be repaired |
| Aluminium (from bauxite) | Foil, cans, window frames, cookware | Recycled aluminium, which needs a small fraction of the energy of new metal |
| Copper | Every wire in the house and in your charger | Recovery from old wiring and electronics |
| Limestone (cement) | The building you are sitting in | The chapter's own list on page 15 — traditional stone and mud, new plant-based materials, recycled materials from waste plastic |
| Plastic (from petroleum) | Bottles, bags, pens, the button on your shirt | Cloth, jute, paper, steel and glass containers; refill instead of rebuy |
| Groundwater | Drinking and washing — a slow renewer, and non-renewable in practice once drawn beyond recharge | Harvested rainwater, revived tanks and ponds, treated and reused water |
Steps for the transition:
- Reduce first. The cheapest unit of energy is the one not used — switch off, use daylight, keep appliances serviced, walk short distances. Nothing has to be substituted if it is not consumed.
- Shift the source, not the habit. The chapter's own example on page 17 — make the switch to renewable sources of energy for as many purposes as we can. Rooftop solar for a school or home; solar pumps for irrigation; solar water heating instead of an electric geyser.
- Electrify what burns fuel, then feed that electricity from renewables — this is why an electric bus helps only as much as the grid behind it is clean.
- Recycle metals and reuse materials, so the same copper and aluminium serve twice or ten times instead of once.
- Build with less cement, using the alternatives the chapter names — stone, mud, plant-based and recycled materials.
- Work at scale as well. A single household cannot build a solar park; that is why the International Solar Alliance (page 18) matters — shared finance and technical expertise are what let sunshine-rich countries actually make the shift.
Why the transition cannot be instant: the chapter is realistic about this. Coal still meets a rising demand for electricity as the population expands and development accelerates, and India's reserves are estimated at about 50 more years. The task is therefore twofold — use what we have judiciously so it lasts long enough, and build the renewable capacity that will replace it before it runs out.